


Control

by writingforeverapassion



Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Trauma, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Family Issues, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Incest, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8040349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingforeverapassion/pseuds/writingforeverapassion
Summary: AU. Control equals the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events. In this AU; there is an additional family member – Lyric Rosalina Dooley, the fraternal twin sister of Leo Francis Dooley.





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> First story in this fandom! This plot has been floating around in my mind for a while now so I thought I'd give it a go. Of course this is still a work in progress. It might be a little confusing but a lot more will be explained as we go on so hang in there for me, will ya? ;D 
> 
> Apologies for OOCness, grammatical errors, etc.  
> Your thoughts are always welcome! Xx
> 
> Disclaimer: I do NOT own Lab Rats or its characters, etc. only the original characters and the plot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyric has snuck out without telling any of her sibs.

**_I._ **

_'Mom and Big D asked abt u. Told them u went 2 bed already. Don't worry u can thank me later ;)'_ —8:09 P.M.

_'kay so i might've accidentally told adam bree chase that u snuck out.'_ —8:20 P.M.

_'WHAT !11 Leo i told u NOT 2 tell them !'_ —8:22 P.M.

_'They kept asking abt u. what was i supposed 2 do?'_ —8:23 P.M.

_'be a GOOD BROTHER and keep ur mouth SHUT like we agreed!'_ —8:23 P.M.

_'look im sorry ok?'_ —8:24 P.M.

_'whatever'_ —8:26 P.M.

_'ABC says they will keep it a secret only if ur back by 9 and they know where u r.'_ —8:30 P.M.

_'Lyric?'_ —8:35 P.M.

_'what leo? im busy'_ —8:35 P.M.

_'(O_O) with what? or should i say with who?'_ —8:36 P.M.

_'shut it Leo. Don't worry about it and tell ABC its a deal.'_ —8:36 P.M.

_'mhm. okay.'_ —8:37 P.M.

_'WHERE R U? !1!'_ —10:05 P.M.

_'Lyric, pick ur phone up NOW im not kidding!'_ —10:35 P.M.

_'Chase is beginning 2 freak. U know how he gets when he's too worked up lyric. PICK UPPPP!'_ —10:36 P.M.

_'R u with him rn? U better NOT do anything stupid Lyric'_ —10:37 P.M.

_'Lyric I'm starting 2 get worried tell me where you are NOW'_ —11:01 P.M.

_'Why aren't u answering my, Adam, Bree or Chase's calls or txts?'_ —11:10 P.M.

_'Lyric u promised u would be home by now. IT'S MIDNIGHT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PICK UP'_ —11:20 P.M.

_'On my way'_ —11:22 P.M.

It's amazing how much can change in such a short span of time. Or what seemed like a short span of time. Lyric wasn't quite sure.

It's also quite mind-blowing how much a person is willing to sacrifice for the one they love, how willing one is to change oneself completely, in order to satisfy the person they love. How willing one is to put their own happiness on the line so that said person they're in love with are happy. The fact that they're happy makes you happy so therefore it's doesn't really feel like you're giving up or losing out on anything because, when you're in love, their happiness is your happiness. Their sadness is your sadness. Their pain is your pain. You almost feel incomplete without them.

When you're with the person you're in love with, physically there with them, you essentially feel flushed. You feel like you're on cloud nine, as corny and stereotypical as it sounds, it's true. You feel this high when you're with them, this lightness that is hard to explain, but the moment the feeling occurs, you recognize it immediately. You feel warm and fuzzy. You feel... happy.

But when they're gone, out of sight, you long for them. You long for their touch, their smile, their eyes, their hands, their everything. They are all you think about, even at the oddest times of the day. Their the first person that crosses your mind when you wake, and the last endearing thought before you rest your eyes to sleep. They're in your dreams and in everything you do.

And when you're in love, I mean, really, crazy stupid in love, you begin to see them in almost everyone you meet, whether it's subconsciously or not. You compare them (in my case) with every male you meet. It's not like you mean to, it just... happens and it's really nothing you can do about it.

It's all apart of the deal of falling in love. You assume the responsibilities of the lasting effects and after effects of experiencing it. And sometimes it can be one of the best things ever.

And other times, it could make you feel like it's the end of the world.

Bottom line is: love makes you do crazy things. Things you never thought you would do, not only to yourself but to the others around you.

She guesses that's why she finds herself justified in her actions as of late. It certainly doesn't mean she doesn't feel bad for the way things have been these past two months, but she does feel somewhat validated.

A vibration startles her out of her thoughts as she looks down at the cellular in her hands, indicating a notification of a new text message she has received.

_'how r u going 2 get back?'_ —11:27 P.M.

_'same way i left'_ —11:27 P.M.

_'which is..."_ —11:27 P.M.

_'walking.'_ —11:28 P.M.

_'WHAT! no way it's middle of the night! Where r u? Adam and the rest of us r going 2 pick u up.'_ —11:29 P.M.

_'i'll be fine'_ —11:30 P.M.

_'no u WON'T. i'm not letting my sister walk home in the middle of the night. it's too dangerous. txt me the address NOW Lyric.'_ —11:30 P.M.

Knowing her brother would not budge, she gives in texting him the address. Only it's not the address to her exact location, but the address to the local twenty-four hour mini mart that was only five minutes away from where she actually was. She didn't want any of her siblings to know where she was and what she's been up to and who with. She wasn't ready for them to know yet. Leo only knew about who she was with because he was such a nosy brother. Always has been. So keeping something from him was nearly impossible most of the time. Though she did fear he would eventually blab about it to their older sibs because, well, that was Leo. He wasn't the best at keeping secrets.

It's not that he did it on purpose, telling she means, it just... slips. Without him being fully aware, of course. It's innocent enough. Although, It seems to have gotten worse these past few years and Lyric suspects part of that is due to his constantly being around their oldest stepbrother Adam, whom Leo was just alike in the area of keeping secrets.

But hey, every family has that one person(s) who just can't hold water for long, right? Welp, Adam and Leo are steadily fighting for that role in the Davenport-Dooley family.

There's a slight hitch in her breath as there is slight movement beside her. She couldn't believe she almost forgot that there was someone else in the room with her, lying beside her, snoozing peacefully.

She freezes for a moment before she feels the person's arm that's loosely wrapped around her waist tighten. She could feel his cool breath on her bare shoulder and she dares a cautious glance at the person laying next to her, resisting the urge to breathe a sigh of relief when she realizes that the person was still fast asleep.

Good.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to face him yet. Not after what occurred just a few short hours ago. She wasn't sure how to feel, about losing her virginity and all. It was planned, yes, but it certainly wasn't like how they portray it in the movies.

Romantic, satisfying, and most of all: painless.

It was awkward, less than satisfying, and hurt like nobody's business! Too much to possibly enjoy it half as much as the individual laying beside her seemed to.

She didn't say anything though, just braced herself through the pain. Thankfully being able to will back all of the tears that threatened to escape throughout the whole thing.

It bothers her a little though, that he didn't seem to pay attention to how she was doing while they were... you know. He seemed so preoccupied in his own satisfaction that he failed to inquire about her well-being. I mean, she did inform him that this was her _first_ time and she'd think he'd be a little more... attentive, a bit more gentle, and a little more thoughtful. But she quickly discarded those thoughts. It wasn't a completely horrible experience and he did ask her if she was okay after which she did appreciate. After all, she should have just told him that it hurt, that _he_ was hurting her, but she didn't. So whatever happened was her fault for not speaking up when she had the chance. No one has the power to read minds so why should she expect him to be able to?

Besides, she _is_ the one who initiated it. She wanted it. He _definitely_ wanted it. What would she look like stopping him and telling him how she really felt. Which was many things, but petrified being the most dominant. She couldn't have done that. It would not only have completely ruined the moment, but made him feel like she didn't want this, which she did.

Or at least she thought she did.

No.

She did. But if she would have known that the soreness would be as bad as this. She definitely would have gave it a second thought.

But it was done and over with now. And though it wasn't the greatest, and she still doesn't know how to feel about it just yet, she knows she's glad it was with him. That, she's for sure about.

_'We r almost there. Adam got lost again. (-_-) Hang tight sis.'_ —11:40 P.M.

Lyric suppressed a giggle before casting another glance at the stilled form beside her, careful not to disturb his slumber as her bare feet made contact with the soft woven fabric of the carpet, quickly dressing. She tip toes across his room to his bathroom. She needed to make sure there was no trace of the kind of activity they'd been up to that night anywhere in her appearance.

Fixing up what she could, she exited the bathroom once again tip toeing across his room. Grabbing her purse, she slung it across her shoulder.

She gave the unmoving form one last glance over her shoulder before she was gone.

**. . . .**

"What was she doing all the way over here anyway?" Bree asked from her spot in the backseat of the car.

"I don't know but she's gonna get an earful from me. This is so dangerous! Seriously, what was she thinking coming all the way down here by herself and not telling us?"

"She told Leo," Adam pointed out.

"I wonder why she didn't tell me." Bree muttered a bit sourly.

"Which brings me to my next question: Why _did_ she tell you Leo?"

"Because I'm awesome?"

"I don't think so," Bree said, turning to face him. "Why didn't she want us to know? We wouldn't have told on her if that's what she was afraid of."

"Yeah. Cause we can so keep secrets. Like the one where I caught Bree squeezing into her jeans just the other day and she threatened that if I breathed a word of it to anyone, she'd tell Leo I was the one who accidentally flushed Oscar down the toilet." Adam chuckled but then stopped when he realized what he'd just let slip. "Oops.."

"Adam!" Both Bree and Leo chorused, one from embarrassment and the other from shock.

"You were the one who did it! How could you?!"

"It was an accident!" Adam said defensively, turning to look at his youngest brother apologetically. "I thought he would get tired swimming around in that little tank you had him in all the time, so, I figured he'd have more room in the toilet where there's more water and space." Adam shrugged. "Then I had gotten the sudden urge to... you know and well, you know the rest."

Everyone's (with the exception of Adam) face contorted in utter repugnance as they stared at their eldest brother.

"I don't know whether I should be mad or feel complete remorse for Oscar's last moments." Leo shuddered, shaking his head, desperately trying to rid his brain at the imagery that was seeping its way into the forefront of his brain.

"Anyway," Chase said, obvious disgust in his tone. "You didn't answer my question, Leo."

Leo sighed. "Look, she didn't exactly tell me. I might have accidentally overheard a conversation she may have had over the phone discussing her plans of sneaking out later tonight."

"So you were eavesdropping?" Bree deadpanned.

"Bree, eavesdropping is such a harsh way to put it. More like overheard."

"Mmhm."

"I still don't understand why she didn't tell the rest of us. What she doesn't trust us or something?"

Leo could easily detect the hurt and slight annoyance in his older brother's voice and Leo couldn't help but think that Chase meant it having do to with he, Adam, and Bree not being Lyric's blood siblings for the reason she didn't tell them.

"Well if it's any consolation, she wouldn't have told me either if I hadn't been eaves—I mean, _overhearing_." Leo corrected, catching the pointed look Bree shot him in his peripheral. He shrugged, "she's been keeping me out of the loop when it comes to things like this, too. So don't take it too personally."

"I guess your right." Chase replied with a sigh a few seconds later, "I just wish she'd be more open with us. She's been so closed off lately. She's never been that way before. I guess I can't help but wonder if it's something I did."

"I doubt that. But I do agree with the whole closed off thing," Leo said, "she has been more secretive lately and for the life of me I can't figure out why..."

"Maybe she just needs some space?" Bree offered, "I mean, _I_ of all people know what the struggle is like living with a bunch of guys. As a girl, you just need a day to yourself. Maybe that's what this was about."

"Maybe." Chase replied, skeptically.

Leo stayed silent. He felt bad for not speaking up about the real reason why Lyric kept them out of the loop. He wanted to say something, but he knew it wasn't his place to tell.

Silence filled the car and after a few more stop signs, red lights and green lights. They finally reached their destination where they saw Lyric perched on a bench. She spotted them before they spotted her, so she just stood and waved her hand in the air to get their attention which she successfully did.

"Hey guys," Lyric smiled as she slid in the back seat next to Leo, shooting him a pointed look before shutting the door behind her, clicking on her seat belt and once again the car began to move.

"Don't 'hey guys' us. Do you know what time it is? The danger you put yourself in tonight? You ignored all of our calls and text messages. You could have at least shot one of us a text letting us know you were okay. I don't appreciate being lied to, either."

"Chase I—"

"What if something bad happened and we couldn't get to you because we didn't know where you were and couldn't reach you?"

"Chase I'm—"

"What you did was selfish, reckless, and dangerous, and—"

"Chase! Calm down, will you? I'm fine, alright? Just relax."

"Relax? Relax? You want to me _relax_ when you had us worried half to death the whole night?!"

"You're overreacting."

"Overreacting? _I'm_ overreacting?!" Chase nearly flipped. Leo could see the two prominent varicose veins from where he was sitting that always seem to pop out whenever Chase got worked up.

Leo sighed, knowing if he didn't step in now things would only escalate. "Look, maybe we should just discuss this tomorrow when things are less intense and everyone's had their full eight hours of sleep."

There was a prolonged silence that Leo took as a unanimous decision to at least hold off until tomorrow. The rest of the ride was in silence. An awkward one at that.

Finally though, they were home and made it back in one piece without waking neither their parents or Eddy.

Silently, they each muttered their good night's to one another as they broke apart to go their separate ways. Each hoping tomorrow would bring some sort of clarity and understanding to the events that occurred that night.


	2. II.

* * *

  _ **II.** _

_**Four Months Prior** _

* * *

"Lyric, you're drooling again." Clover nudged her best friend since training bras. She shook her head as she watched Lyric quickly wipe away at her face in a panicked manner. "Lyric I don't understand why you just won't go over there and talk to him."

Lyric sighed, pouting a little as she let her head fall against her locker behind her, only wincing slightly. "I can't, Cloves."

Raising her brows, she folded her arms against her chest. "And why is that?"

"Because," Lyric began, "because..." she struggled to find the words. "Because he's... popular."

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so?' Popular, handsome guys like him don't go for unconventional tomboy nerds like me. He's way out of my league and you know it."

"No. It's more like the other way around. You're out of _his_ league, actually." Clover narrowed her eyes at her best friend, "I never seen you act this way before. Especially not over some guy. What's gotten into you?"

Lyric sighed again, closing her eyes briefly. "It's because he's not just _some guy_ , Clover. I really like him. He's... he's so..." she shakes her head, "I can't even describe it. All I know is that whenever I lay my eyes on that boy my heart feels like it will implode from beating so fast and my tongue feels three sizes bigger. It's a terribly, beautiful feeling."

Clover chuckled at this, but then she stops. Eyeing her best friend for a moment, she bit her lip. "Lyric? We're best friends, right?"

Lyric looks up at her, in almost utter surprise. "Of course! Why would you ask a silly question like that?"

Clover began to fidget a little. "Because, well," she sighed dejectedly. "Because I've been seeing Adam behind your back."

She waited for a reaction. Anything, really. An outburst, a scowl, a tongue lashing. But nothing came, except the audible laughs from Lyric that earned a few odd stares darted towards their direction as Lyric doubled over in laughter. Tears pricking at her eyes. Clover was utterly confused.

"Um, Lyric. What's—What's so funny?"

Once she was able to calm her laughs, wiping away the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. She grinned at her best friend, "I _knew_ it!"

"Huh?"

"About you and Adam. I knew something was going on," she smirks, "Chase owes me twenty bucks."

Clover's eyes narrowed, barely registering her words. "W–What? Wait, you knew? H–How? Adam agreed he wouldn't say anything until I told you first."

Lyric's grin turned into a mischievous smirk. "Oh, trust me Clov, he didn't have to." Seeing the confusion still prevalent on her best friend's features, Lyric decided to elaborate. "Clover, how long have you and I been friends for?" She didn't wait for a response as she continued, "you think you would be able to successfully hide something like this from me? The way you two eye each other when you think no one's paying attention told me all I needed to know. And as far as Adam, the fact that I caught him tossing his chicinairy away in the waste bin a couple weeks back and all the random trips to the "grocery store" were also two dead giveaways." Lyric chuckled as she pushed herself off her locker and both girls made their way to third period class after hearing the signal of the bell going off.

Clover blushed, looking up at her best friend with a sheepish grin. "It was that obvious, huh?" When Lyric nodded, she sighed. "I really didn't mean to keep something like this from you, Lyr. Adam wanted to tell you so bad, but I guess I was afraid you'd be upset."

"Upset? Why would I be upset?"

"Because he's your brother and everyone knows you don't date your best friend's brother."

Lyric giggled at that and shook her head, "well I'm not upset. I'm happy for you. That's all that matters really. As long as you two make each other happy, who cares what everyone else thinks."

Clover smiled, relieved it seemed. "I'm glad to hear you say that. But," Clover stops just at the doorway of their classroom, she bites down on her lip, nervously, "are you're sure you're okay with this? Like, _really_ okay with this?"

"Yeah," Lyric nods, a small smile forming. "Yeah, I am." Lyric smiled, "so how long?"

"Two months."

"Yes! Chase now owes me twenty-five dollars. Ha, I can't wait to rub his face in this."

"I can't believe you guys made bets on us." Clover shook her head as they enter into the classroom full of chattering students. "And here Adam and I were thinking we were being slick."

"Ooh, that you _weren't_." They both took their seats next to one another. "Bree and Leo know too. I even think my mom and Big D know." Clover gaped. Lyric just nodded. "Yup. I surely hope you two don't have any future career plans of working with the CIA because if so, I'd definitely think about reconsidering." She finished with a wink.

Clover just playfully rolled her eyes, but said nothing in return.

"Alright class, settle down! Settle down..."

**. . . .**

"Go on Lyric, stop being such a wuss puss and go over and talk to him. What's the worst that could happen?"

Lyric turned to glare at her. "You know whenever someone says that the worst always happens! And I'm not being a wuss puss."

"Then go over and talk to him. He's all alone at his locker right now. I'll tell your sibs you had a make up quiz to take in one of your classes. Don't worry. You got this, remember?" Clover winked as she started backing away from her. "Go knock 'em dead girly."

Lyric couldn't help but chuckle at her best friend as she watched her disappear down the hallways, and into the cafeteria. Her gaze then refocused on the boy only a few lockers down, going through his locker. The boy she's been admiring from afar for almost a year now.

Mordecai Christakos.

Captain of the football team, a senior, and one of the hottest guys in the school. Along with Aaron Fonzworth, Forest Miller, Vaughn Ashford, Anderson Folkhart, Brennan Jackson, Spencer Bennings, and a few other guys. She was sure Adam had made that _Senior Male Hottie List_ along with Bree's longtime boyfriend, Kellan Fisher. She would have chuckled at the thought of her sister having to fight off many more girls who are going to flock to her boyfriend once they discovered Kellan made the list. As if the small group of girls following Kellan around, openly flirting with him even if Bree was there, wasn't enough already.

She could already feel herself clamming up as she took a few advancing steps towards Mordecai, who seemed so preoccupied with whatever he was doing in his locker that he failed to notice her presence at first. Her body was beginning to shake and fidget with how nervous she was. She was tempted to just turn and run the other way. It certainly would have helped her nerves some. But she knew if she didn't talk to him now, she would never do it and she would eventually just go back to admiring from afar.

That option displeased her so much so that she found herself clearing her throat a little to get his attention. She wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline that got her going or the sudden sense of moxie pumping through her veins that gave her the temporary courage to finally open her mouth and speak.

"Hi."

_Oh God, that was so lame._

He finally acknowledges her presence. He draws back from what he's doing, gives her a slight once over before frowning a little. "Uh, hi?"

_Keeping going Lyric, you got this. Just breathe._

"I—um, my—my name is Ly—"

"Dude, come on! Trent and some of the guys and Bethanni are waiting for us out in the parking lot. Let's go, man!" A guy she recognizes as one of the _Senior Male Hotties_ –Eric Garcia, shouted from down the hall, head poking in from the double exit doors down the hallway.

"Alright, man! I'll be right there," he turned towards her as he quickly finished transferring the books in his backpack to to his locker. Slinging it over his shoulder he slammed the locker shut. "Uh, I've got to go. It was nice meeting you, Liza."

And he was gone from the halls, out the doors and once again, she's alone. With her tail tucked between her legs, she foots it in the opposite direction he ran off to. "It's Lyric," she mutters well after he's gone.

Pushing the door open to the girl's bathroom, she prepares to stay in there for the remainder of the lunch period. There was no way she could go to the cafeteria right now. She was tempted to send Clover a quick text, but knew what that would ensue if she did and she really wasn't in the mood to be around people at the moment. So the restroom and gossiping teenage girls standing in front of the mirror, overly teasing their hair and applying so much makeup Lyric was sure their face would collapse from, would have to do for now.


	3. III.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some revealing info on one of the characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

**_III._ **

"We missed you at lunch today."

Lyric looks up from her work book situated in her lap and up at the voice that interrupted her concentration. She smiles when she sees who it is. "I doubt that."

"No really," Chase insisted as he shut her bedroom door behind him and took a seat on the area next to her on the floor. "It was actually kind of boring. Everyone was all coupled up. Including Adam and Clover. You know I'm starting to think you were right about them."

Lyric smirked, "I was. By the way you owe me twenty-five smackeroos."

"What!" Chase gaped.

"Yup. Clover finally fessed up and told me," she shrugged. "Not only were they together, but they've been together for the past two months."

"Wow," Chase mused. "How could I have not seen that coming?"

"Because you're Chase," Lyric retorted with a light shrug and smug grin. Chase gave her a deadpanned look, but it quickly faltered resulting in him just shaking his head with a small smile looking the other way.

"So, you said everyone was coupled up? Weren't you one of them? Angela wasn't there? You guys are still together, right?" Lyric questioned, her eyes slightly widening in concern.

"Yeah, we are," said Chase, his shoulders hitching up a bit, but Lyric could easily detect that something was bothering him. He then says, "she's been sick with the flu these past few days, so we haven't be able to spend as much time together."

Lyric nods, "Oh, okay."

"So you need any help," Chase asked after a brief moment of silence. Lyric smiled and nodded. Honestly, she didn't really need help, but he seemed like he needed the distraction from whatever was bothering him. She was tempted to just ask, but she figured that whatever it was, he would eventually confide in her what it was, like he always did.

Chase was one of those people who lived inside his head most of time. He rarely conferred about his problems to anyone, and truthfully that worried Lyric a lot more than she would like to admit.

Chase had the unhealthy habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He tended to overthink most of the time, which led to even more problems. And also had the tendency to put his own feelings to the back burner in favor of others, most of time his family. And friends, which he had very few of.

Chase and she were a lot more alike than Lyric had initially thought when she first met him, Adam and Bree three years ago.

They were both outcasts. And the more time she spent around him, the more her suspicions were confirmed. She guesses he realized this too and that was why they meshed so well together. She was also one of the very few people, actually, the _only_ person he truly let his guard down around, with the exception of Leo, whom Chase was extremely close with as well.

A small smile tugs at her lips as she ponders on how far along they've come. To think that they used to be at each others throats in the very beginning. Back then, if someone were to tell her Chase would end up being her confidant and she being his, she would have laughed right in their face and told them to go shove it. But, life had a funny way of working out.

Here she was, talking and joking around with the person she never thought she'd ever grow to even _like_ as a person, yet she harbors fondness for him, affection and protectiveness that is extremely familiar to her. It was like how it was with Leo, but not exactly, if that made any sense.

He knew things about her that even her own mother didn't know about. Things she's only shared with Clover and Leo. They talked about a lot of different things. Even about their previous lives, before they met one another, like the time he imparted to her how he still harbored heavy anger and resentment towards his 'Uncle' Douglas.

Here's the backstory with her step-uncle: He is the biological father of Adam, Bree and Chase, but that is definitely the only tie he has to the trio as far as they're concerned.

The thing is, once upon a time: Douglas was or _is_ a drug dealer – for a living.

According to Chase from what Big D told him, Adam and Bree, it started off in college, innocently enough, like every other college student Douglas was no different when he encountered weed for the first time. He liked it. It started off as a recreational drug for him, only smoking it at frat parties, sometimes after school, and maybe after a rough day.

But then something happened. Douglas had received his grades for the semester and freaked out. Apparently, he went off on some type of tangent about flunking out of college and being cut off from his parents for good. His roommate at the time suggested that he try some of this "new stuff" which Douglas had later discovered to be cocaine.

It all went downhill from that point on. Douglas began snorting almost everyday. He was failing all of his classes and eventually got kicked out. It was only a matter of time before his parents had discovered it from a letter mailed directly from the college, informing David and Lisa Davenport of their son, Douglas' dismissal. It didn't take long for them to cut him off completely. That only drove Douglas further into his new drug infested life, getting deeper and deeper, nearly overdosing a number of times.

As if all of this wasn't enough, his life took another turn, but not necessarily for the worst.

Aira Dawson.

Douglas had met her through a best friend of his at the time; Victor Krane, who was actually going out with this girl at that time. But according to Douglas, they were having problems – something about Victor being too jealous and controlling, and Aira being too clingy and overly emotional.

Victor asked Douglas to talk to Aira for him, try to get the young woman to understand where _he_ was coming from.

Let's just say there wasn't much talking involved.

Victor and Aira quickly became Douglas and Aira.

Douglas ended up losing Victor as a friend, his _only_ friend since childhood, the friend he had known for so many years, the friend that helped Douglas through so many hard times; including getting practically disowned by his parents when he got kicked out of college. That same friend had promptly ended his friendship with Douglas the moment he found out the _real_ reason why Aira had broken things off with him — to be with his own best friend instead.

Needless to say, Victor never spoke to Douglas ever again after that day. Even after many failed attempts on Douglas' part to get a hold of Victor and explain himself.

But really; what could Douglas possibly say to the person he betrayed in the worst way possible?

Douglas was the one who got Aira hooked as well. Together they were like Fire and Ice, Bonnie and Clyde, oil and water. But it worked for them.

Douglas and Aira had only been together a little less than six months when Aira discovered she was expecting their first child – a boy – _Adam_. Aira picked the name, apparently inspired by one of her favorite comedic actors of the time; Adam Sandler.

To say Douglas was overwhelmed with joy and fright mixed together was an understatement. After all, he had only been twenty years–old at the time, a college dropout, struggling to keep his head above water, and heading down a path of destruction. Did that really sound like father material? Of course not. But that didn't stop him from jumping for joy the day his first son was born.

The moment he laid eyes on the young lad, he was determined to make a change, to turn his life around.

But as the infamous saying goes: It's easier said than done.

Weaning yourself off of something you've been dependent upon for so long proved to be a tougher task than Douglas ever imagined, so of course quitting cold turkey had been off the table. Aira lasted a little longer than Douglas had. She would have been okay with giving up the lifestyle for her child. But old habits die hard and Aira found herself shooting up three weeks after Adam's arrival. She hated herself for it, according to what Big D said. He says that it had never been what she wanted, what either of them wanted. When Aira was pregnant, Douglas and Aira constantly talked about what kind of parents they'd be. And the things that would no longer be, so when their darling baby boy arrived, it was like most of the things in Douglas' life – it didn't go the way he planned.

The timeline of when Bree and Chase came along seemed to be a blur. It was like one day Douglas just blinked and there he was with three crying babies barely at the tender age of twenty–five. It was too much. He could barely support himself, much less Aira, who already had two different jobs (one as a waitress at the nearby diner and the other, a dancer at one of the local clubs, which Douglas highly despised of and tried on multiple occasions to get her quit. But Aira insisted that it was the only way they'd be able to support themselves and their children. Douglas still hated the thought of his wife dancing in front of salacious, middle–aged men. But, eventually he had stopping fighting her on it and decided to ignore it altogether.) and even less a child – three to be exact!

His parents wouldn't help him for obvious reasons, there was no way he could ask his elder brother, Donald for anything, and at the time Douglas realized that most of his friends now were dope dealers and not _actual_ friends. Or normal ones at least. More like colleagues.

Aira wound up asking her mother, Denise Dawson, who ended up being a huge help when it came to watching Adam, Bree and Chase. But financially, there really wasn't much she could do. She was a widower. Aira's father had died when she was just a baby from lung cancer, so it had just been Aira and her mother for practically the entire duration of her life.

After three years of courting, Douglas had finally popped the question. They asked Denise to watch the kids, only telling her of their elopement when they had gotten back three days later. Denise was extremely upset that she had missed her only daughter's wedding, but she was still happy for them. And she liked Douglas for the most part.

By the time Douglas and Aira were married, Douglas had become a well–known drug dealer around town, and he made a hefty dollar doing it. So much so that he asked Aira to quit her two jobs. He was making enough now to take care of her and the kids. Things were going well, business was booming, Douglas was happy. Aira was happy. What more could he have asked for?

But alas; the good things had to come to an end. A sickening, deplorable, unspeakable godawful end and Douglas couldn't believe he didn't see it coming.

The day he came home to see his wife's lifeless body sprawled out on the bathroom floor with a needle stuck into her arm, surrounded by all three of their children. Adam, shaking his mother's unmoving form. Bree sobbing while holding onto her younger brother protectively as they both watched the scene before them, was a day in his life that he'd never be able to forget and that sight alone, of his three children, Douglas would never be able to disremember.

By the time the paramedics arrived, Aira was already gone. Apparently, she had been dead for several hours.

Cause of death: Heroin overdose.

According to the coroner that performed the autopsy explained that even if someone had discovered Aira sooner, it still would've been too late. She had a number of drugs in her system at the time, so the minute the substance was injected into her bloodstream, her body reacted immediately which would explain the seizure she suffered from, just before the drug spread to various other parts in her system. She would've been pronounced dead at the scene had they gotten to her sooner.

As if the untimely death of his wife hadn't been enough, not even a week after Douglas was caught in a drug bust by an undercover cop.

Of all the ways he could've gone down, it had been by some pigheaded, rookie cop.

He racked up on the charges and was sentenced to six years in prison. And to top it all off, his own children were going to be taken away from him and put into the foster care system. That is, until Donald stepped in. The absolute _last_ person he expected to do so.

Donald and Douglas never really did have the best relationship. They were always so competitive with one another, fighting over everything. And it was no secret in the family that Donald was the favorite. David and Lisa Davenport certainly didn't hesitate to make it known to Douglas at every chance they got who they thought was the better son, whether it was in school, with girls, with friends, with any and everything.

Their parents response to Douglas was always: _Douglas, honey, why can't you be more like your brother?_ or _Douglas, son, you need to be more like your brother, Donald_. Douglas could never win with his parents, could never please them. No matter what he did, it would never surpass his brother's accomplishments.

Old feelings of hurt and resentment seemed to bubble up to the surface when Donald came to him, stating that he would be taking in his nephews and niece. Donald stepping in and offering to take care of his children while he did his time just meant that it was one more thing Donald could do right that Douglas could not. It angered him immensely. He knew he should've been grateful, and to some degree he was. But his issues with his brother seem to overpower everything else.

He couldn't even think about asking any of his friends because, as mentioned earlier, he didn't really have an any _actual_ friends that weren't involved in his lifestyle. Denise wouldn't do it for obvious reasons: She blamed him for everything, but mostly for the death of her only daughter. Donald was his last and only hope. The _obvious_ choice.

Donald could provide everything that Douglas couldn't for his children. Stability, a sense of normalcy, and most of all: A happy life. Away from the perilousness his lifestyle provided. Adam, Bree, and Chase didn't deserve that, to live like that. They didn't ask for that kind of life.

What kind of father would he be to deny his children the opportunity to a better living all because of his own issues he had with his brother. It wouldn't be right and he knew he would not only regret not allowing his children to be in the better care of his brother, but they would resent him for it later on when they were older. And that was the absolute _last_ thing he wanted – for his children to end up hating him.

So, with much reluctance, he signed over his rights as a parent over to Donald. Deep down, he knew it was the right thing to do, but it didn't mean that it hurt any less. Adam, Bree, and Chase were only seven, six, and five years–old. They were too young to be thrust into the foster care system. There was no doubt that they'd be separated.

He knew he hadn't been a very good father to them and he certainly didn't provide the best or the most normal childhood. This was the least he could do for them as their father. The _only_ good thing he could do for them, if nothing else.

According to Chase, Douglas tried to reach out to them a couple years back, but something went down and he was back in prison for who knows how long. Chase also says that even if he did come back into their lives, Mr. Davenport was the one who was there for him, loved him, and ultimately raised him. He would always be the one he viewed as his father and as far he could tell, Adam and Bree felt the same.

Lyric, on the other hand, felt a bit of empathy for her step-uncle. Of course he's made some bad mistakes as a father and maybe husband, but for the most part, it seemed like he really did love his children and only wanted what was best for them – what he thought was best at least. It couldn't have been easy just giving away your children to someone else, even if it was to family. Douglas was dealt a bad hand in life and it seemed like he really had no one to help him through it or at least lend a guiding hand. Not even his own parents and that had to be rough.

_No_ , she wasn't making excuses for her step-uncle, the things he did was wrong – yes, but she understands – in a twisted kind of way, where Douglas might have been coming from.

"Lyric, are you paying attention?" came the slightly annoyed voice of Chase, effectively snapping her out of her reverie.

She blinked and looked over at him. "Oh, I'm sorry Chase. What were you saying?"

He frowned, narrowing his eyes at her for a moment, "are you okay? What were you thinking about?"

She smiled and shook her head, "nothing. It's nothing. Come on, I really need help with this. Mrs. Kramer's quizzing us on this stuff tomorrow and the last thing I need is failing grade."

Chase stared at her for a second before clearing his throat. With a swift nod of his head, he continued on about something involving the quadratic formula, though, she wasn't quite sure. She was too preoccupied with the thought of how glad she was to have him as her brother. Sure it took a while of getting used to, but she did. And honestly, she couldn't imagine her life without Adam, Bree, or Chase. They were not only her brothers and sister, but they were her best friends. She loved and cared about them more than she ever thought she would and call it twin telepathy, but she was ninety–nine point nine percent sure that her brother felt the exact same way.

She would do anything for them, and if someone tried to hurt any of her family, they would surely have to pay the piper's price for it.

Even if it was her step–uncle.

"So, does it make a little more sense now?"

"Mhm."

"Lyric," Chase began.

"No it does," she quickly assured him. Then smiled, standing up from her sitting position on the floor along with Chase. Stretching the limbs that had long fallen asleep from being inactive for such a length of time. "Thanks Chase, because of you that quiz should be a piece of cake."

Chase grins cockily. "Yeah, well. I _am_ a genius."

Lyric just stared at him with raised brows. "Don't push it."

Chase just smirked. "Whatever, you know it's true."

"Mmhm, right."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Chase dug into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. "Here." He said, handing her a twenty–dollar and five–dollar bill.

Lyric frowned. As tempting as it was, she just couldn't do it. At least not in good conscious, "no, you don't have to."

"You won. It's only fair," He said, hand still outstretched.

"Chase, really. I don't want the money. It was just fun beating you," Lyric grinned, heading to the bathroom. "But, thanks anyways bro."

Though Chase gave a soft glare as the door shut to her bathroom. His face cleared and a soft smile appeared across his face. Just as he was about to leave, he glanced over at the shut door and slipped the money in the drawer of her vanity.

"I may be a sore winner sometimes, but I'm certainly not a sore loser." Chase muttered, shutting the door to her room. He then smirked, "not all the time at least."


	4. IV.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a fluff chapter since last one was kind of intense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really sure how I feel about this chapter. Kind of eh. Hopefully it will get better as we go on.  
> Enjoy!

_**IV.** _

"He did _what_?!"

Lyric sighed into the receiver, playing with the hem of her comforter. "Yeah. He completely ran off before I could properly introduce myself. To make matters worse, he called me Liza."

"Ooh. I'm so sorry, Lyr. I wish you would have just sent me a text or something. I feel really bad you spent the whole lunch period in the bathroom."

Lyric could sense the guilt in her best friend's voice, so quickly she said, "It's okay Cloves. Really. It wasn't that bad. In fact I got the skinny on some juicy gossip I overheard. You remember Stephanie Forester, the girl in our English class?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, isn't she dating that guy Jack something? I know his last name starts with an A. What about her?"

Lyric shifted from laying on her stomach to laying on her back as she stared up at her ceiling. She smirked. "Not anymore. Can you believe she was cheating on him with his _own_ brother the entire time she was with Jack."

"No way!"

"Way, girl. Apparently it's all over school. Jack got wind of it and dumped her. He's not even speaking to his brother, Jason, I think his name is."

"Wow, that's low. That's like me cheating on Adam with Chase, or Leo. That's like the ultimate betrayal."

Lyric sat up and looked at the direction she heard three swift knocks coming from. "Hold on a minute Cloves." She said into her phone before setting it down onto her nightstand. She leaped up from her bed and padded her way to her bedroom door. Opening it she was only slightly surprised to see her eldest stepbrother, looking rather...Conflicted.

"Oh. Hi Adam, what's up?"

"Can we uh, can we talk?"

Lyric frowned at that, but shrugged anyway. "Um, sure. Come in." She moved to the side so he could come in and he did. "Just a sec," she said, reaching for her phone. "Hey Clover... yeah. Can I call you back?..." Lyric giggled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever... Okay. Bye." She looked over at Adam who looked even more discombobulated than before. She frowned and sat next to him on her bed. "Adam, are you okay? You look a little...frazzled."

Adam laughed, but something about it seemed forced. "What? Me? Frazzled? No way!" He said, waving his hand at her.

She frowned again, starting to get a little disturbed by his odd behavior. "Adam, you're starting to scare me a little. What's going on?"

Adam looked at her for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "I...I wanted to make sure that you weren't...Upset with me."

Lyric made a face. "What? Upset with you? Adam why would I be upset with you?"

He shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her gaze as he spoke. "About Clover. Dating her, I mean." His gaze then finally met hers, an apologetic glint in his honey brown eyes. "She's your best friend and all. And you know, everyone knows you don't date your sister's best friend."

Lyric chuckled a little at that, remembering her best friend's earlier, quite similar sentiment which made Adam frown a little. "Adam, I will tell you exactly like I told Clover. I don't care about that kind of stuff. As long as you two are happy that's all that matters to me." She paused for a moment before prompting her next question. "Does she make you happy, Adam?"

Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before slowly nodding. A smile stretching across his face as he spoke. "Yeah...yeah she does — _a_ _lot_."

Lyric smiled, glad to see the guilt ridden expression gone from her eldest brother's face. "Then that's all that matters. That's all I really care about, the people I love and care about — happy."

Adam grinned so hard she wondered if his face would collapse from such an act. "You really mean that?"

"Of course!"

Adam continued to grin as he stared at her. "That's pretty awesome."

"Yup." Lyric slowly nodded, then a thought came to her. She looked at Adam with a waggish grin. "You up for a game of _Bionic Casino Mayhem_?"

Adam's eyes went wide with excitement, but then frowned. "Wait, that game hasn't even come out yet."

"Try again, bro." Lyric smiled, reaching for her purse situated on her nightstand. She digs around for a brief moment before pulling out a DVD box titled _Bionic Casino Mayhem_ on the cover. "Whaddya think?"

Adam's eyes went wide once again with excitement as he snatched the object from her hands with pure elation as he examined the DVD box, flipping it over to get a better look she assumed. "Whoa! How were you able to get this? It doesn't come out until next month!"

Lyric smirked. "It's one of the benefits of being the object of the manager at GameStop's affection...as creepy as that is." She cringed for a moment before shrugging, standing up from sitting on her bed. "So are you in or what?"

"Uh, heck yeah!" Adam boomed with exuberance. Lyric laughed as she followed him out of her room. He turned towards her as they rambled down the hallway and bounded down the stairs. "About that creep at GameStop, is he really bothering you? Because you know I will go up there and straighten him out if you want." Adam said as they finally made it down the stairs and into the living room.

She laughed at that, but stopped short when she noticed that Adam was actually serious about his proposal. She shook her head with a small smile. "Nah, that's okay. He's been okay lately. Nothing a little backtalk won't fix." She went to turn the television on, "besides, if I ruin my alliance I have with him how would I be able to get us video games before anyone else?" She said, placing the compact disk into the DVD player. She grabbed a controller and handed Adam the other, plopping down next to him.

"I don't care about that," answered Adam. His tone uncharacteristically steely. "What I care about is some old, middle–aged, pea–brained creep hitting on my little sister."

Lyric turned to look at him, frowning for a moment before it turned into a small simper. "Adam. You know I can take care of myself, right?"

Adam turned to look at her and smiled. "Yup. But that doesn't mean creeps like that won't try anything. And believe me, if they do, they'll have to go through me first."

Lyric stared at him for a little while before shaking her head and turning her focus to the television that now displayed the menu. She clicked play.

The entire time they played, the smile never left her face. She would never admit it to Adam but it really touched her when he got all big brother protective with her. It was refreshing. It was sweet. And it showed her that he really did care, which she knew he did, but it was nice seeing the real thing up close.

So engrossed in her own thoughts, Adam ended up winning.

"No fair," Lyric grumbled.

"Aw, don't worry, we can have a rematch sis."

"Why thank you Adam."

Somewhere in the middle of the game, Adam nudged her. "Hey,"

"Mmhm."

"I love you, too."

Lyric looked over at him, slightly surprised. Once the initial shock wore off, she smiled over at him, which Adam returned. Turning his head back to the game with a smirk, he said. "But I'm still going to kick you're butt."

Lyric laughed. "In your dreams bro."

And they continued playing all afternoon. Lyric ended up winning the second time around. After that, they just continued to play for fun. That is until Tasha came home and forced them away from the television and to go wash up and get ready for dinner, which they did with Lyric seeming to have an extra pep in her step. She ran into Leo on her way to her room. He frowned a little as he eyed her suspiciously.

"What are you so chipper about?"

"Oh nothing baby brother, nothing at all."

Leo gave her a pointed look. "You know you're only two minutes older than me, right?"

"Yup. And I never felt better because of it." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. Leo froze and she laughed.

"What's with _you_?"

"What, a girl can't show her brother a little TLC?"

"Uh, yeah, not really." Leo said, wiping at his cheek where she had kissed him. "Especially when the TLC is wet." Leo made a face and she rolled her eyes still grinning. She made her way past him. "Whatever, you know you love it bro."

"Sisters." Leo mumbled as he shook his head and made his way down the stairs. Though, secretly, he wasn't as repulsed by the affection as he lead his twin to believe.

**. . . .**

"He has a _girlfriend?_ " asked Lyric in utter consternation, feeling her heart nearly break into two as she stared at her best friend, wide eyed. "How did I not know this?!"

Clover stared at her best friend with sheer sympathy. "I know...maybe it's just a rumor!" Clover offered hopefully.

Lyric shook her head. "No, it's probably true. If you heard it from Trout Mouth Trinity, than it's more than likely. She's a very reliable source."

"Yeah...she was right about Ms. Feemer getting fired last year," Clover shrugged. "And about Andrea Fambino having lice."

Lyric visibly shivered, then offered a small smile followed by a sigh. "I wonder who the lucky dame is..."

"I think her name is... Bethanni. Yeah, Bethanni Castello is her name." Clover nodded while Lyric just gaped.

" _Bethanni Castello?_ As in Bethanni – the captain of the cheer leading team? The one who has a track record a mile long?" Lyric shook her head in disbelief. "She's going to break his heart!"

Bethanni Castello was a senior at Mission Creek High who didn't have a very good reputation when it came to the guys she went out with. In fact, Adam had went out with her for a brief period before he quickly broke things off with her after he caught her making out with the bus boy on their second date. She excused herself to go the "ladies room". After waiting for her return thirty minutes later, Adam went searching for her in fear that she might've gotten lost (this is in the mindset of Adam) only to find her pinned against the wall in the back, near the men's bathroom, playing tonsil hockey with their waiter.

They weren't serious so Adam didn't seem too bothered by it. Lyric felt bad and angry when she found out what Bethanni did and didn't hesitate to give that _thot_ a piece of her mind.

Needless to say, Bethanni was sort of – no _is_ the school's... _scarlet woman_ for better choice of words.

"How the heck was she able to get her claws hooked onto _him_ of all people?"

"Jezebels can do that you know," Clover jested with a smirk earning a laugh from Lyric.

"True. So very true."

"But seriously, this might work in your favor."

Lyric frowned. "How so?"

"Well, think about it. If she does end up breaking Mordecai's heart, which is more than likely given her track record, you can be right there to pick up the pieces."

Lyric thought about it for a second. That was true. If Bethanni indeed used him like she did every other guy at Mission Creek High, then there was a good chance she'd be able wiggle her way in. She hated the circumstances in which she'd be able to. The last thing she wanted was for Mordecai to get hurt, especially by that bimbo. And she definitely didn't want to be Mordecai's rebound. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

She turned to Clover with conspiratorial smile. "Maybe your right."

"Well of course I am," Clover grinned smugly. "I'm always right. Don't act like you don't know."

Clover gave her wink and Lyric shook her head, both girls dissolving into laughter, barely noticing the two new presences surrounding them.

"What's so funny?" a voice asked, making both girls halt in their laughter only to see her two familiar faces appearing a bit puzzled.

Adam had been the one who had asked the question. Clover just grinned, throwing her arms around the older teen's neck. Leaning up for a quick kiss. She said, "Oh nothing babe."

"Yeah. It's nothing. Nothing at all..." Lyric smirked. Chase just stared at her, dubiously might she add.

"Why do I feel as though that is not the case?"

"Mm, because your a paranoid man?" Lyric retorted with smile, earning her slight glare from him. She snickered, then threw an arm around him. "Oh Chasey, you know I'm only kidding."

"Sure," was Chase's only reply.

The bell sounded off through the halls, indicating the start of third period. The teens in the hall began to scatter off into different directions. Adam and Clover reluctantly broke apart.

"See you guys at lunch." Chase called over his shoulder.

"You betcha bro." Lyric said, waving at her brothers. She looked over at Clover and rolled her eyes, pulling her best friend towards the opposite direction of Adam who wouldn't let go of Clover's hand. "Come on Cloves, you're going to see him at lunch. Stop acting so dramatic."

"Fun sucker."

Lyric just giggled, sticking her tongue out at her best friend. Then says, "You'll thank me later when we're in our seats and not in detention thanks to Mr. Atkin. Not only would we be giving up our Saturday but your additional time with Adam."

Clover looked thoughtful, still being drug further down the hall by Lyric. "Mm. You've gotta point. But you're still a fun sucker."

Lyric rolled her eyes, but her smile never leaving. "And your still a lovesick puppy. But that's alright, I still love you."

Both girls quieted down once they reached their destination just before the second bell rang. They took their usual seats and Mr. Atkin began to drone on about their lesson for the day. Lyric, on the other hand, began pondering on a strategy on how she would be able to approach Moredcai.

She could only hope this whole thing with Bethanni would end sooner for him rather than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments & kudos would be greatly appreciated! :)


	5. V.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyric goes to her big sis for advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, here we are with another chapter. I just want to apologize if this story seems to be going a bit slow. I just want everyone to get a feel of the character's personalities and the dynamics before it gets intense. Don't worry though, it will pick up soon enough. ;)  
> Oh yeah; Happy Halloween, sweeties. ;-)  
> Enjoy Xx

_**V.** _

"Bree?"

Bree looked up from her phone, probably texting Kellan, Lyric thought with a smile.

Bree grinned when she saw her. "Oh, hey Lyr! Come in!"

Lyric stepped in, closing the bedroom door behind her. She went to go sit in the swivel chair near Bree's vanity before asking, "How's Kellan doing?"

Bree grinned. "He's fine. Though he's been a little on edge this past week for his upcoming game. A few scouts from a couple colleges he was interested in are coming to watch some of the players for potential recruits."

Lyric nodded. "Oh. Has he figured out what college he's going to yet?"

Bree shook her head, her demeanor dimming a bit. "No. But I think he may be leaning towards Brown University, but he's hasn't come right out and said it yet." Bree shrugged, "I told him that we should just choose the colleges we truly want to attend and not let our relationship dictate where we go." Bree paused for a moment before continuing, "I also told him that if he ends up somewhere across the states, I'm willing to continue our relationship long distance, if he is. He agreed, so I guess we'll see how it goes..." Bree sighed and Lyric could easily detect the slight anxiety in her stepsister's voice.

She felt bad. Bree and Kellan had been going together for nearly two years. They were the definition of high school sweethearts. Kellan took Bree to her first prom. They were voted cutest couple and the most likely couple to stay together after high school and get married and live long happy prosperous lives.

Lyric found herself in awe of their relationship (and maybe slightly envious), wondering if she'd ever have what they have one day. Anyone with eyes could see how much the two teens loved each other. Bree seemed so happy and she'd practically light up whenever Kellan was near. The same could be said for him. And most of all, it was the way the teens would look at each other when they thought the other wasn't paying attention. It was a look that Lyric thought about more often than she would like to admit. A look that revealed so much of what was left unsaid. Lyric desired that — for a boy to treat her the way Kellan treated Bree, to look at her the way Kellan looked at Bree; to love her the way Kellan loved Bree.

"Anyways," Bree's voice spoke, breaking Lyric's train of thoughts. "Did you want to talk about something? You looked like you had something on your mind."

"Oh yeah." Lyric nodded, sitting up a little. "I uh, wanted to ask you something."

Bree nodded, getting up from her bed and moving over to her walk in closet, picking through some of her clothes. "Shoot."

Lyric nods, taking a deep breath as she began to fidget a little. "How do you um... get a guy to like you? I mean like-like you. The way you and Kellan are."

Bree paused what she was doing and turned to look at her with a quizzical expression. Then a look of realization spread across her face as she squealed, "Oh my gosh, you like someone!"

Lyric's eyes widen. "Shh! Bree please, would you keep it down? I don't want anyone else to know... and I'm not saying I like someone I just... I'm curious."

Bree smirked. "Curious, huh?" She turned back around and resumed picking through some more of her clothing, pulling out a pink crop top. "Hey, what do you think about this shirt?"

Lyric frowned as she watched her stepsister move towards her body mirror to stare at herself, twirling a little. Lyric frowned, "Uh... it's... a nice shade of pink I guess."

Bree paused from looking at herself in the mirror and gave her a pointed look before shaking her head, chuckling a little as she moved back towards her closet, hanging the shirt back up onto the rack. "Goodness Lyric, you can be such a tomboy sometimes."

Lyric didn't know if Bree meant that as a compliment or not. Lyric shrugged deciding to just take it as the former.

"So..."

Bree gave a brief glance over her shoulder as she picked through so more clothing. " _So_ , what?"

Lyric sighed, beginning to get slightly impatient. " _So_ , you haven't answered my question yet. How do you get a guy to like you?"

Bree sighed, "I don't know... it depends on the guy. What's he like?"

Lyric looked thoughtful for a minute before answering, "Well he's athletic, popular, smart, definitely cute and has a girlfriend."

Bree stared at her with raised brows, "The guy you like... has a girlfriend?"

Lyric gave a weak nod, "Yes, but she... she's not right for him."

"And you are?"

"Yes. No. I—" Lyric huffed, "I don't know. What I do know is that she's going to end up hurting him."

"Mm," Bree mused. "Have you talked to this guy before?"

"Yeah, once or twice..." Lyric tried to avoid Bree's gaze before sighing dejectedly, "Okay, no, I haven't. He doesn't even know I exist, actually."

"Well therein lies the problem. You have to talk to him Lyric, get to know him a little better — for all you know he may end up liking _you_ and you won't even have to do a thing."

Lyric pondered this for a moment, "You think so?"

"Positive," Bree said; pulling out another outfit and laying it on her bed. "So, you wanna tell me who this lucky fellow is? Does he go to our school?"

Lyric rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Bree—"

"Come on! I'm your sister. Sisters share stuff like this with each other. I promise I won't tell anyone. Scouts honor," Bree said, holding up three fingers.

Lyric gave her a pointed look, "Were you even a girl's scout?"

"Well, no, but I wanted to be so I know that counts for something." Bree shrugged.

Lyric narrowed her eyes at her stepsister for a moment before sighing, "Alright, alright. I will tell you, but you can't tell anyone, Bree — not Caitlin, not Kellan, not anyone. Okay?"

Bree nodded excitedly, "Yeah, yeah I won't. Now who is it?!"

Lyric bit down on her lower lip, fidgeting a little as she suddenly found the color of Bree's carpet quite interesting. "It's um... It's Mordecai. Mordecai Christakos."

Bree looked thoughtful for a moment as she seemed to be racking her brain on who this guy is. "Hm, Mordecai—"

"He's the captain of the football team. I'm sure you've seen him before, maybe even talked to him before since he and Kellan are on the same team—"

"Oh!" Bree piped, looking as if a light bulb went off. "Mordecai, yes! The quarterback," she nodded with a smirk, "Wow, Lyr, I never would've thought Mordecai to be your type."

Lyric blushed a little, "Well what did you think 'my type' was?"

"Not him," Bree quipped with a smirk.

Lyric made a face, slightly offended. There was a moment of silence before either spoke, which was Bree this time.

"You know, if you want, I can arrange for the two of you to meet."

Lyric eyebrows rose at the proposal, "You could do that?"

"Uh, yeah! It's one of the many benefits of not only dating one of _the_ hottest guys in school, but you also get to meet his _equally_ hot friends." Bree shrugged, grinning. "Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't let my darling kid sister in on this, huh?"

Lyric gulped, unsure. "I don't know—"

"Oh, come on Lyric! You like this guy, right?" Without waiting for a response, Bree continued. "Well, this is your perfect opportunity to _finally_ get him to notice you. This is what you wanted, right?"

"..Well, yes, but—"

"Isn't he with that same girl who completely dissed Adam a while back? Bethanni-what's-her-face? Seriously, do you really want Mordecai to be endgame with that floozy? The one who screwed over our brother."

The more Bree went on about Bethanni, the more agitated Lyric began to get. Bree, who is intentionally regurgitating up old rancorous feelings towards the girl that played their brother, somehow induced a sense of tenacity within Lyric. She looked up at Bree, a look of sincere moxie in her eyes, "Your right."

A wicked grin stretched across Bree's face, her plan working successfully. "So, does that mean your in?"

"I'm already there, sis."

**. . . .**

"Guess who?"

"Hmm. Oh! I know! Halle Berry?"

Bree gasped, swiping at her boyfriend's arm. "Jerk."

Kellan laughed, turning around and immediately snaking his hands around the younger teen's waist, pulling her close. "Aw Bree, you know I was kidding."

"Whatever."

Kellan laughed again, "Oh, don't be like that. Come here," The sandy haired teen leaned down for a kiss. "I missed you."

Cracking a smile, she leans into him wrapping her arms around his neck. "I missed you more," she mumbled into the kiss, then slowly pulled away. "But, I have a proposition for you."

"Oh, do you. May I ask what kind of proposition this is?" Kellan asked, trailing small kisses along her jaw, "Does it involve you and me?"

Bree pushed him away. "Nope, but it does involve you."

The sandy haired teen frowned at his girlfriend, "Mm, not seeing where you're going with this, babe."

Bree exhaled as she glanced around the hallways, making sure no one was within ear shot, then turned back to her boyfriend. "You know those parties you and the guys have after the games sometimes. Every other Friday. We went a couple times."

Kellan frowned for a moment before nodding, "Uh, yeah... we're actually having one this Friday... why are you asking about that?"

Bree bit down on her lower lip, twiddling her thumbs. "Well, I was wondering if I could bring, you know... a friend."

"A friend? What kind of friend?"

Bree shrugged, "You know. A _close_ friend."

Kellan quirked an eyebrow at her, a look of suspicion in his emerald green eyes. "How exactly _close_ is this friend?"

"It's not like that, Kellan. It's my sister."

"Your sister, Lyric?"

"No, Leo. Of course it's Lyric." Bree said, barely able to withhold the sarcasm in her voice.

Kellan gave her a look before responding, "Why do you want to bring her?"

"To meet new people," Bree replied, shrugging once more.

Kellan eyed her, once again, suspiciously. "Well you already know that the party is exclusively for the football players and their girls. Plus, she's only a sophomore."

"I know, I know. But—" she sighed, glancing around once again, "I promised her I wouldn't say anything but, she has a crush on one of the players..." Bree said, whispering the last part to him.

Kellan looked intrigued, "She does? Who is it?" With a smug smile he folded his arms against his chest, "Is it Sebastian? Chandler? Andy? Julian? Trent—"

Bree's countenance scrunched into utter repugnance, "Ew, no! Who would like _Trent?_ "

Kellan chuckled shaking his head, "You'd be surprised. You know he's actually not as bad as he seems."

"He bullied Leo for the entire time he was a student at Mission Creek — and that's a long time. Plus, he harasses Lyric with every opportunity he gets."

"You know it's because he likes her, right?"

"What!" Bree gaped.

"Yeah, don't tell anyone — especially Lyric. But me, Trent, and Sebastian were hanging out a couple weeks back. And you know how Sebastian's father owns that winery up in Crestwood Valley?" Bree nods, "Yeah, well, he was able to slip us a couple bottles and well... we a got a little drunk."

" _What!_ " Bree repeated.

"I only had a little, I promise." Kellan quickly assured his girlfriend to ease the daggers she was shooting at him, "Anyways, Trent had the most to drink out of all of us and I honestly don't even think he remembers anything that he said.

"He went on this whole tirade about finally proving his father wrong. Something about being the first in his family to graduate high school. Then he went on and on about Lyric the rest of the night, talking about how he's liked her since that freshman dance last year, where he first saw her. He said something else about how she would never like him the way he likes her and that's why he picks on her and her brother so much. And some more stuff about her I can't remember. He passed out not too long after." Kellan shrugged, "I think Sebastian might've caught some of that too, though he hasn't said anything about it to me."

Bree was rendered speechless. _Trent_ of all people?

"Wow, I was not expecting to hear that."

"Neither was I that night," Kellan shook his head. "He never said anything about it since so I just assumed he didn't remember any of what he said." Kellan shrugs, "You can't tell anyone though; he'd kill me if he found out I knew of his dirty little secret."

"I... won't."

"Bree."

"No. I won't, I'm just a little—"

"I know, I was too. As bad as he bullied those two I would've never thought..."

"Maybe that was just the alcohol talking."

"Maybe. Though the way he was talking about her..." he shook his head. "I think it was his true feelings, Bree."

"Unbelievable!" Bree shook her head to clear her mind of the mental image of Trent and her younger stepsister. "...Anyway, it's Mordecai, the guy she likes."

Kellan's looked perplexed, "Christakos? She likes _him?_ "

"Yeah. I think that's his last name."

"Oh."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just... I don't think they would be a good match."

"And why's that?"

"He's just... not a guy I think you would want your sister entangled with. I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He's a great teammate and all, but it's no secret he's got some serious issues."

"Issues? What are you talking about?"

Kellan shook his head, slinging his book bag over his right shoulder, shutting his locker. "Look, Lyric can come. I'm sure the guys will be fine with it. It's not like they haven't broke the rules every now and then." He sighs, "Just um... tell your sister to be careful, okay?"

Before Bree could ask him what he meant by that, the bell rang, echoing through the halls indicating the start of the first period of the day to begin. "I have to go," he leaned down, placing a kiss to Bree's cheek with a soft smile. "Sit with me at lunch today?"

"Yeah, sure." Bree said distantly, her mind swirling with the information she just received.

Kellan just smiled, "Love you babe. See you at lunch."

"Love you too..." Bree whispered well after he was gone.

What in the world just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question: what were you this Halloween? You're not required to answer but I'd love to know!  
> P.S.— I didn't dress up this year; now I kind of wish I had. :-( Oh, well, till next Halloween! :D


	6. VI.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more revealing info on one of the characters. Also a surprise character will emerge and make his/her first (but certainly not last) appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to sort of set the tone for the rest of the story, which is going to be a bit more on the serious side since it's dealing with some pretty heavy topics. Hope you all like!  
> Enjoy Xx

_**VI.** _

Chase's jaw clenched as he struggled to control his heavy breathing. Slamming the door shut to the Davenport household, making the frame around the door rattle as he trudged through the living room glaring at nothing in particular.

He tossed his book bag down on the couch as he quickened his steps once he reached the kitchen. Gripping the handle of the cabinet, he snatched each one open until he found a glass, which he shoved under the faucet filling the glass until it was halfway full.

He gulped it down and again he repeated the action. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his breathing was still labored, but a lot calmer than it had been earlier. He closed his eyes, bracing his hands upon the counter, and began to count down starting from twenty.

Nineteen

Eighteen

Seventeen

_Breathe. Breathe. Just breathe..._

Thirteen

Twelve

_That's it..._

Ten

Nine

Eight

_You have to be strong. He only controls as much of you as you allow him to._

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Chase opened eyes, immediately glancing around the vacant living room. He exhaled, raking a hand through his hair. He moved back over to the couch where his book bag lay deserted. He rummaged through it. Finding what he was looking for, he stared at the bottle for a moment.

_Dr. Kasparian_

_Chase Alexandar Davenport_

_As prescribed by doctor_ _— take **1** tablet every five hours._

_Refills: 0_

Chase exhaled; briefly closing his eyes before twisting the cap open, dumping one tablet into the palm of his hand. Tossing the capsule in his mouth, he swallowed.

After securing the cap on the bottle, he tossed the object back into his bag. Then laid back onto the couch, allowing the medicament to take effect. This time though, not fighting it.

He begins to feel himself drift away into the dark abyss of his mind. He opens his eyes and is immediately alarmed. He was no longer in the living room of his home, but standing outside. In front of a familiar, old looking home.

He should be a bit unnerved by his current predicament, and to some degree he is. But the bigger portion of himself is filled with wonder and curiousness. Why did this place look so familiar to him? Has he been here before?

Deep down he knew he should probably just turn around and leave, but even if he wanted to he couldn't. His feet were already moving towards the direction of the home, which had a colonial style to it. And though the home wasn't in pristine condition, it definitely had a certain mystique about it that Chase found himself drawn to the closer he got to it.

He stared at the front door for a couple seconds before reaching down for the doorknob, but before he could do so, a sound of a click could be heard and a slight squeak from the door cracking ajar.

Chase frowned at this but it didn't deter him as much as it should have. Continuing forward into the home, that nagging feeling returned as he was plagued with the never ending question.

Where do I know this from?

It was eerily quiet and he wondered if anyone was home. From what he could tell somebody definitely resided here. More than one person would be his best guess. The place was completely furnished and as he stepped into the living room, he was startled when he seen a small figure sitting cross legged, staring up at the television.

It was a little girl.

She looked to be five or six, with long brown hair and big brown eyes that were wide with mirth as she giggled audibly at something on the television screen. It was only then that he noticed that she was watching PowerPuff Girls.

A small smirk emerged on his face.

_Bree's favorite._

He then took notice to the small cabbage patch doll situated on her lap. The doll looked pretty worn; the cotton inside the doll emerging at the seams. Some of the places on the doll's head where the hair should be looked to be missing.

But based on the death grip this little girl was giving the doll, it led Chase to believe this doll held some type of significance in the girl's life. He stood there for a moment; occasionally glancing between the television and the little girl who seemed so to be so entranced with it. He even chuckled a bit at some of the parts. He had to give Bree credit – the show wasn't half bad.

"Adam! Bree! Chase! It's time for supper!"

Chase's head snapped up at that moment.

That voice.

He knows that voice.

He could never truly forget that voice.

But... could it be?

Lost in his own thoughts, he barely notices the little girl zoom past him, yelling; "Coming, mommy!"

He blinks and stands like a statue for a moment, before shaking his head in attempt to clear his mind of the bazillion thoughts racing through head. He is set to follow where the voice had come from, but something catches his eye from his peripheral, halting him in his movement.

He turns his head completely to stare at it.

A picture.

An oddly familiar looking one at that.

With an outstretched hand, he picks the picture up to get a better look.

The picture showed what looked to be a family.

A seemingly happy one judging by the smiling faces.

A man and a woman, who looked significantly young, with three small children.

The man was grinning widely with one arm looped around the woman's waist and the other holding a little girl who looked no older three or four years-old. As he looked closer, the girl in the picture looked a lot like the one he had just seen, just a lot smaller.

The woman was holding an infant in her arms as well; a boy, probably around the same age as the little girl.

A bright grin was stretched across the woman's face.

Chase's eyes lingered on her for a while longer. Something about her smile looked familiar. Oddly, it reminded him of Bree's smile. And maybe a little bit of Adam's, too.

Last but not least was the toddler standing closely by the woman's side, grinning from ear to ear. Five or six he could have been, judging by the young boy's absence of teeth.

He didn't recognize anyone in the picture, yet they all looked familiar – _too_ familiar.

"Adam, would you stop teasing your little brother?"

Chase's head snapped up again.

"Sabrena, what did I say about bringing toys to the dinner table?"

That voice again.

Chase set the frame down slowly. Gulping, he began to move towards where the voice was coming from.

A pleasant aroma filled his nostrils as the voices got louder and louder until —

"Mama, aren't we going to wait for daddy?"

Chase gaped at the sight before him.

It couldn't be.

The woman smiled warmly at the little girl as she took a seat at the head of the small table.

"Daddy won't be back until much later, don't worry about it, sweetie."

"Okay, mama."

"Adam, would you please stop playing with your food?"

"But I'm not hungry."

"I told you not to eat all those cookies before dinner. They always spoil your appetite," The woman sighed. "Can you at least try and eat a little bit of it, for me?"

The little boy grinned and nodded.

"Okay, mommy."

The woman then directed her gaze towards the other little boy situated between the boy and the girl. The youngest of the two.

"Chase, honey, is everything alright? Is your food too hot?"

The little boy looked up at his mother, visibly saddened and shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes."

The woman gave the little boy one last look before nodding and resumed eating.

Chase stared. He wanted to leave, but it felt like his feet were weighed down by an unknown source. His throat dried and his heart began to pound against his chest as he could feel the perspiration building at the peak of his forehead.

It was at that moment he remembered everything.

Everything he's tried so hard to forget.

The man and woman in the picture.

The children.

Why the home looked so familiar.

It all hit him like a ton of bricks.

_You can never get rid of me, Chase._ A deep voice spoke. He looked up and seen it was coming from the woman. She got up from the table with a sinful grin and began to advance towards him. _This is apart of who you are._ I'm _apart of who you are._

The kids turned towards him and began laughing loudly, tauntingly.

Chase shook his head and backed away. "No. No. No!"

His back hit against something, stopping him from backing away from the advancing figure. And it was then he realized he was trapped. The woman's grin widen and in a blink of an eye, she was no longer there. Nor was anything else. He was no longer in his old home, but standing in the middle of blackness. His breathing was heavy and everything was silent.

"Snap out of this, Chase. This isn't real. This isn't real!" He forcefully whispered to himself, closing his eyes.

_Oh, but it is._ A voice said in his ear, so close he could feel their breath against his skin. His eyes snapped open and he gasped at the sight of...

Himself?

But it wasn't him.

_But I am you, Chase. I'm the part of you that you try so hard to suppress with those crazy pills you take._ The carbon copy of himself laughed. _But you will never be able to rid yourself of me, because I am you. A much better version of you._

Chase shook his head in disbelief.

"This isn't real. _You_ aren't real! Wake up! Wake up!"

The eidetic apparition of himself boomed with laughter as he shook his head, circling the teenage genius.

_Doesn't matter if you're awake or asleep Chasey. I will always be here. In your subconscious._ The look-a-like smirked, _Do me a favor, try not to forget that._

"Shut up!"

The replica chuckled, _And_ why _would I do that?_

"Because you aren't real! Just a figment of my imagination."

_Oh, I'm much more than a figment of your little fickle imagination,_ Chase _. But, I'll play along._ The look-a-like smirked, _So, tell me Chasey boy. If I am just a "figment" than why are you on meds just to get rid of me, huh? If I'm just some illusion or hallucination, then why are you trying so hard to rid yourself of me?_

Chase silenced after that, pondering over the clone's words. For the first time in his life, he was stumped. He didn't have the answer to the question and that alone had him feeling quite unhinged.

Chase look-a-like just smirked, shaking his head, arms folded against his chest. _Face it, Boy Wonder. I'm as real as you allow me to be. Your pretty smart. You can figure this out._

"Why are you here?" Chase muttered out, churlishly. "What do you want, Spike?"

_Well. First of all, I don't appreciate the attitude,_ Drummer Boy _. You shouldn't be mad at me; I'm the one who you always call on whenever you're spineless self can't be man enough to handle a situation. And secondly, you already know what I want. What I've always wanted. I shouldn't have to repeat myself over and over again when you already know what the deal is._

Chase's jaw clenched.

Spike chuckled with a wicked grin stretched across his face, folding his arms. _Oh, don't give me that look. You know you love me._

"I _hate_ you," Chase remarked venomously.

_Yeah, well, I hate you too. And our family does too._

"No. They hate _you_. And they're _my_ family."

Spike gasp comically, _Oh! My feelings are so hurt. My family hates me. Wah wah._ The evil doppelganger laughed, _It's going to take a lot more than a few petty words like that to get rid of me._

"You will never have my life or the people in it," Chase spat through gritted teeth. "I won't allow it."

Spike scoffed, _Don't flatter yourself, Buttercup. I don't want your meaningless life or the worthless, trifling people in it,_ Spike gave a wolfish grin as he once again circled the teenage genius predaciously. Then, he was suddenly at Chase's ear. _I want to_ destroy _your life_ and _everyone in it._

For a brief second, there was a flicker of fear that flashed across the teen's eyes, but as swiftly as it appeared it vanished and materialized into a glower.

"That will _never_ happen." Chase hissed, "Not on my watch."

Spike just smiled disparagingly at him. _We'll see about that now, won't we?_ He then roared with laughter again, obnoxiously loud. And it was beginning to give Chase a mind numbing headache.

In a flash, Spike was at his ear again.

_I'll see ya later, little boy. It was so nice talking to you again. See you soon, spineless Susie._ He laughed again and _s_ uddenly Chase was jolted back to reality. A sharp gasp escaped past his lips as he shot up. He was back home, in the living room. But this time, he wasn't alone. He looked up to see his stepmother staring down at him with a look that can only be described as motherly concern.

"Chase, sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Uh—"

The woman placed a hand on his forehead and her eyes widen. "Oh my goodness! Your burning up!"

"I'm fine—"

"No, your not. I think you may have a fever. Why don't you go upstairs to your room and get cleaned up. I'll make you some tea."

"Tasha, you really don't ha—"

"Now, mister."

Chase nodded, "Okay."

He knew good and well he wouldn't be able to deter his stepmother once she had her mind set on something, especially when it involved one of them and their well-being.

As he ascended up the stairs, he turned to look over his shoulder and seen his stepmother already getting started on her task. A small smile erupted across his face. He liked it when she got all mama bear on him. It sort of filled the void of not having a mother for most of his life. Don't get him wrong, Mr. Davenport was great. But it was nothing like having a _real_ mother.

He didn't realize how much he longed for that mother figure in his life until Tasha came. She was everything a child could ask for in a mother. He could remember, three years ago, when Leo, Lyric, and Tasha first moved in not long after she married Mr. Davenport. He had been coming down the stairs one morning, along with Adam and Bree to leave for school when they caught the mother, son, and daughter bidding each other goodbye.

Something unpleasant sparked in his chest as he watched Tasha kiss both her children on the forehead; a look of a mother who truly adored her children.

It made him feel... jealous. And envious of Lyric and Leo.

Sometimes he felt like the fraternal twins didn't truly know how fortunate they were to have a mother like Tasha. One who loved and cared about them and would do anything she could to protect them. Not everyone was as lucky to possess such a mother as their own.

Though Adam and Bree teased the twins about what they had just witnessed. He knew they felt the same way, felt that same emptiness, that ceaseless void.

As time went on though, Tasha began behaving that same way with each of them and he would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed that motherly attention just a tad bit.

He was sure the same could be said for Adam and Bree, if their overly gleeful expressions whenever Tasha offered to help them with something was anything to go by.

Like when Bree wanted to join the cheer squad in her sophomore year at Mission Creek High and Tasha was the first person that helped her learn some of the routines and dance moves (even though Bree didn't end up making it, she was more than happy to have Tasha's help and told her as much).

Or the times Tasha helps Adam with some of the classes he struggles with.

Chase sometimes wondered if Adam _actually_ needed the help or if he just wanted Tasha's undivided attention for an extended length of time.

If that was the case then Chase couldn't blame his older brother because he understands.

Upon reaching his room, he could only hear the faint sounds of his siblings voices booming through the house as they filed through the front door, greeting their mother.

Slinging his backpack across the room, he pads his way to his bathroom.

Standing in front of his sink, he turns on the water. He quickly wets his face and exhales a shaky breath as looks up and to stare at his reflection.

"You're in control, Chase. Be strong. Just like Dr. Kasparian told you." He whispers encouragingly to himself.

And though he said the words out loud, he couldn't help but feel a certain degree of self doubt bubble up inside his chest.

Was he really in control? Did Spike have a point about only being as real as Chase allowed him to be?

Chase just shook his head. No. Spike was wrong. He was the one who had complete control. Spike was just an apparition, a mirage of some sort. He couldn't have been real.

Could he?


	7. VII.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place three days after the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you all are wondering: Leo and Lyric are sophomores, while Bree is a junior and Adam a senior. Chase is also a senior. He was able to skip two grades ;) lucky son of a gun.  
> Anyways Enjoy! Xx

**_VII._ **

"Argh! This is useless!" Lyric blurted out in utter frustration to no one in particular as she tossed what had to be the hundredth piece of clothing onto her bed.

It had been a total three days since Lyric had spoken to Bree about her current... _predicament_ and three days since she discovered that Bree had been able to get her into an exclusive party meant for Dingo's Football team and their girlfriends only. Thank goodness she had a sister who had connections. She wasn't sure how Bree was able to do it but Lyric was glad because this would give her the opportunity she needed to get closer to Mordecai. It might've not been much but it was something to start with, more than what she had going before that's for sure.

The only problem that stood in her way was one: How she would get her mother and stepfather to let her go, and two: Bethanni.

She'd worry about the latter later. What she had to worry about was getting her mother and Big D to agree to it. She had one advantage that she was sure to use.

Bree _._

She was almost positive they'd let her go if Bree was going. It'd ease some of the apprehension she was sure her mother and Big D would feel once they discovered she would be tagging along.

Though, she probably shouldn't have waited until the night of the get together to tell them. They probably would've appreciated a forewarning of her said plans this weekend.

"What's useless?"

Startled, she spun around only to see her mother standing in her doorway with her arms folded against her chest with an unreadable expression. Lyric wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She quickly shot her mother a smile.

"Oh, I'm just having a trouble choosing an outfit—"

"For tonight?"

Lyric's eyes slightly widen.

"I—uh—"

"Bree already told me," Her mother said; unfolding her arms and closing her bedroom door behind her and taking a place on her bed, near the piles of clothes scattered over it. "I would have appreciated to hear it from you instead."

Lyric sighed and gave her mother an apologetic look.

"I know, I'm sorry mom. It's just that every time I got ready to tell you I'd chicken out. I was afraid you and Big D would say no."

"And I'm inclined to, your only fifteen years-old. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you going to a high school party _with_ boys."

"There will be girls there too."

"Still."

"Oh, c'mon mom. Don't you trust me? I've never done anything to make you feel like you couldn't."

Tasha sighed, "It's not that I don't trust you, Lyric. Of course I trust you, it's everyone else I don't trust. The boys I don't trust. I didn't raise any of them."

Lyric sighed as well and plopped down next to her mother. "I know, but this is the only high school party I've ever been invited to sorta kinda. And it'd really mean a lot to me if you and Big D allowed me to go. Besides, Bree will be there so I won't be alone."

"I know," Tasha looked thoughtful, "That does make me feel a little bit better." She looks at her daughter for a moment before sighing, then, "Alright, you can go." Lyric squealed. "But only if your stepfather agrees."

Lyric deflated. "What if he doesn't?"

Tasha gave her a look that told Lyric all she needed to know. She sighed and nodded. "I understand. I should probably go ask him now. Do you know where he is?"

Tasha nodded with a small smile, "Where do you think?"

Lyric rolled her eyes playfully.

"Office."

"You bet."

"Wish me luck..." Lyric finished, giving her mother a sad but hopeful glance as she headed downstairs only to discover Adam, Chase and Leo perched on the couch with the exception of Adam who occupied the floor, presumably hogging the bowl of popcorn watching _Pig Zombies_ for the umpteenth. Lyric rolled her eyes.

"You know you guys are going to have nightmares if you keep watching stuff like that."

Leo gave a snort, "Oh, like you did two weeks ago when we watched _Halloween_. Does, _"No, Micheal! Don't! Don't hurt me Micheal, no!"_ sound familiar?"

Laughter ensued from both Adam and Leo, Chase just cracked a small smile as he stared at her from where he was seated on the couch.

Lyric glowered at her twin from where she was standing. If looks could kill; Leo would surely be six feet under by now. "How did you know that?"

"Oh, but how quickly you forget _ma chère soeur._ My room's not too far from yours. I can hear _everything_."

"Hmm, well, I'll remember that the next time you need someone to sing you to sleep when you have another one of your sleepless nights." Lyric retorted with satisfaction at the sight of her twin's eyes widening.

Adam punched Leo in the arm.

"Dude! You like lullabies too?!"

Lyric left before she could hear the rest of that dreadful convo.

She exhaled a shaky breath as she entered into the elevator and pressed _0_. Yes, they had an elevator in their home. One of the many perks of having a tech savvy billionaire for a stepdad.

As she could feel the elevator move downward, she began to think of what she was going to say, how she was going to approach the subject without sounding too desperate.

Before she knew it a gust of wind hit her face and swooshing sound could be heard as the elevator doors opened. She took a tentative step out, glancing around the spacious office that resembled more of a lair slash lab than an actual office.

"Big D! You in here?"

"Yeah, over here!"

She turns her head to the direction she heard her stepfather's voice and finds him crouched down presumably searching for something. She frowned.

"Hey Big D. Whatcha lookin' for?"

He looks up at her and smiles, "Oh, hi Lyric." He chuckled, "I thought you were you're mother. You're starting to sound more and more like her you know." He resumed his activity of sorting. "And nothing really, I was just going through some stuff, organizing a few things. Just to, you know, keep inventory."

Lyric nodded but didn't respond.

He paused what he's doing and begins to eye his stepdaughter suspiciously. "You aren't down here to spy on me in behalf of your mother are you?"

Lyric's eyes widen. "What? No, no. I just... I came to ask you something."

She watched her stepfather's face clear for a moment then he stared at her expectantly. She gulps, then exhaled a breath before she spoke.

"Well, I was just wondering if I could you know, go with Bree tonight... to a party."

Her stepfather's eyebrows rose in what seemed to be surprise as he stared at her.

"You want to go with Bree — to a party?"

"Yeah. It's nothing too major, just a get together with a few students from school."

"Hmm, and would any of these students happen to be boys?"

"Uh... yes."

"Then no."

Lyric gaped. "What!"

"I don't think I feel very comfortable with you going to a high school party where there will be boys."

"But Big D, you let Bree go to parties all the time."

"Yes, that's because she's older. Your only fifteen years-old."

"Big D, she's only two years older than I am." She folded her arms against her chest, "And besides, mom said I could go."

"Oh, did she?" his brows rose once again.

Lyric sighed, unfolding her arms. "That is if you agreed to let me go."

"I'm sorry, Lyric."

"Please, Big D. This is the first social event outside of school that I've been invited to. I really want to go. Besides, Bree's going to be there with me so it's not like I'll be alone or anything."

Her stepfather looked thoughtful for a moment as he seemed to be considering what she said. That was a good sign. So, she continued on, "Please Big D. This would really mean a lot to me. I promise to call if anything happens, which I highly doubt anything will, but, you know, just in case."

Donald seemed to be pondering it as he rubs his chin with his thumb and index finger. "...Maybe one of your brothers should go with you—"

"Oh, God no!" Lyric blurted, looking horrified. "That's worse than not letting me go at all!" She takes a few calming breaths before speaking again. "I will be fine Big D. I promise to be extra, extra careful. Please?"

Her stepfather stares at her for a long period of time and Lyric's sure he's was to refuse her again until—

"Okay." Her stepfather sighed, "You can go."

"Really," Lyric beamed with utter excitement.

"Yes, but you have to be back home by ten o'clock _sharp_. No later than that or this will be your last outing until your next birthday. Understood?" Donald finished firmly.

"Yes sir!" Lyric grinned, than tackled her stepfather with a hug and a kiss on his cheek. "Oh, thank you Big D! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Your welcome, Lyric. You're a smart girl and I know you'd never do anything to jeopardize I or your mother's trust, right?"

"Right, Big D."

He smiled down at her. "Good, besides, don't think I don't remember what it was like being a teenager. I was hip. I was cool. I know what it was like to want to go to all those groovy high school parties." He said, breaking out into dance moves Lyric was sure was at least two decades old.

She just giggled and shook her head. "Right, Big D. Right," She said, backing away from the horrid scene before her. He stopped when he seen the look on her face.

"What?"

Lyric shook her head, stepping into the elevator struggling to suppress her giggles. "Nothing! Nothing! I just... I'm just going to pretend I didn't just see that."

"Are you serious? My moves were totally on-point."

"Um, I don't think so, but thanks anyway, Big D!" Before her stepfather could say another word the elevator doors closed and that's when she burst into laughter barely being able to press the number _1_ button.

Once her fits of laughter subside it was replaced with pure giddiness as she skipped past her brothers on the couch as she hummed the _I Feel Pretty_ song, ignoring their strange stares as she ascended up the stairs barely catching the faint conversation of her brothers asking one another what was up with her. She runs into Bree on her way to her room.

"Hey. What are you so happy about?"

"Big D and mom said yes!"

Bree's face lit up. "Really? That's great, Lyric! Honestly, I didn't think they'd let you go. They didn't let me go to my first party until I turned sixteen." She frowns a little that. "Now I wonder why..."

Lyric shrugged. "Who cares! All that matters is that I will be going to a party with _seniors!_ "

Bree just smiled and shook her head, folding her arms against her chest.

"You know I wonder if this is how Caitlin and I looked when we got invited to our first party."

"Probably."

Bree gave her a pointed look before saying, "Kellan's going to be picking us up at..." she looks down at her wrist watch, "In a couple hours or so. Be ready by seven, okay?"

Lyric nodded excitedly and Bree just laughed at her younger sister's enthusiasm. Shaking her head, she descended down the stairs to get a glass of water.

"Hey Bree, what's up with Lyric?" Leo asked glancing over at her from his sitting position on the couch.

"Yeah, she was humming I Feel Pretty on her way up the stairs. That's highly unlike her," Chase commented with a frown.

"At all," Adam finished.

Bree just smiled; grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and walking over to where her brothers were. "She's going to that party Kellan and I always go to tonight."

" _What!_ " Adam, Chase and Leo chorused.

"By herself?!"

"No, I will be there too." Bree's shoulder's hitched up, twisting the cap open to her water bottle. "Why are you guys freaking out? I go all the time."

"And we already despise the fact that you choose to attend those overrated shindigs you call parties, but adding Lyric to the mix, I'm not sure I'm okay with that." Chase said, folding his arms against his chest frowning at his sister.

She smirked, "Well good thing it's not up to you, Chase. Mom and Mr. Davenport already agreed to let her go."

"That's impossible."

"Not as impossible as you think." Bree grinned, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to tend to at that moment. See ya losers."

The boys watched their sister ascend up the stairs and as soon as they heard the click of her door shutting, Chase spun around to face his brothers. "Can you believe this?"

"I know." Leo agreed, nodding his head. "I can't believe _Lyric_ got invited to a party and the _Dooley Man_ didn't."

"I can think of a few reasons, starting with the nickname _Dooley Man_." Adam sniggered, which earned him a glare from Leo. Adam shrugged. "Sorry little bro, it's the truth."

"Guys, focus!" Chase exclaimed; visibly frustrated. "We need to figure out a plan. There's no way we can let her go to that party!"

"Well we can't exactly stop her, I mean, mom and Big D already said she could go...unless..." Leo's eyes widen with realization as he looks up at a grinning Chase. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Chase smirked, "Oh yeah..."

"Whoa! I didn't know you guys could read minds! Quick! What am I thinking about right now!"

Both boys sighed.

"Adam," Chase started.

"No way! Chase how'd you know I was thinking about myself?!"

The two boys just gave their eldest brother bewildered stares.

Leo shook his head before saying, "Is it just me or—"

"No." Chase asserted with a deadpanned expression before shaking his head as well. "Anyways, here's the plan..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and in case any of you were wondering — Leo and Lyric are sophomores; while Bree is a junior and Adam a senior. Chase is also a senior. He was able to skip two grades. ;-) lucky son of a gun...
> 
> And since this is set in an Alternate Universe, the whole Bionic thing doesn't exist, either. XD


	8. VII: Part II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part II of chapter seven. Lyric gets ready for her big night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, again! So, here we are with Part II of the last chapter—Yay, I know! Okay, so, this chapter is going to foreshadow something that you'll need to remember later on in the story so please try to keep that in mind as you go along. Oh yeah, from this point on, the story is going to start to pick up a bit. I don't know why I feel like this story is going a bit slow. I guess I'm really just trying to familiarize you all with the OC's as best as I can so you'll understand certain things later on and why some of the characters are the way they are. So, yeah. That's all for now.  
> Enjoy babies Xx

* * *

**_VII:_**

_**Part II** _

* * *

"Honey, for the umpteenth time, you look beautiful."

"Yeah, you think I'd let my sister go out with me if she looked like a complete scrub?" Bree asserted, followed by a snort.

Lyric heaved a sigh as she stared at herself in her body mirror.

Dark denim jean jacket; red mock neck underneath. White skinny jeans and nut-brown moccasins.

Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun with the exception of a few loose strands falling down loose beside her face and ears.

She had minimal makeup on; Lip gloss, a little eye shadow that matched her cerise colored mock neck, and mascara.

Just enough. Not too little, not too much.

According to her mother that is...

"You're my family. You're supposed to say that."

"Not necessarily. There's no way I'd let you go out with me looking any kind of way. Family or not; you know that's not how I roll."

Lyric laughed at this while their mother chuckled.

"Now c'mon, Kellan's going to be here any minute."

"Alright." Lyric sighed, "Are you guys sure I look okay?"

"Absolutely positive sweetie."

"Sí."

Lyric giggles then nods. "Okay."

"Wow, you girls look great!" Donald said once they all made their way down the stairs. Coming up beside his wife, he smiled leaning over to kiss the woman on the cheek and then wrapped a hand around her waist. "So, where exactly will this little soiree be taking place again?"

Bree rolled her eyes in exasperation, "For millionth time Mr. Davenport, it's at Mickey's Pizza Parlor. We've been there before, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I just wanted to make sure." Donald simpered. Then pulling his wallet out, he handed both his daughters two fifty dollar bills. "Here, this should be enough."

"Thanks!"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and both girls broke out in an excited grin. Bree looked over at Lyric.

"That must be Kellan! Come on!"

"Now remember what I said about being back here at ten 'o clock sharp!" Donald called to the girls, who were already half way out the door.

"Yes, we know!" Bree called out over her shoulder, tugging at her boyfriend's arm. "Come on, Kells. Let's go before he decides to give you the third degree again."

"Right, hi Mr. Davenport – bye Mr. Davenport!" Kellan hollered giving a brief wave at the older man before being drug off by his girlfriend.

Lyric laughed and shook her head still standing in the doorway. "We'll be fine Big D, don't worry." Lyric smiled reassuringly before waving goodbye and shutting the door behind her.

Donald sighed, turning to look at his wife.

"It seems like it was only yesterday when we were teaching them how to tie their shoe or ride their bike. Where did that time go?"

Tasha sighed as well, leaning her head down on her husband's shoulder. "Honestly? I have no idea..."

"Mom! Mr. Davenport!" a voice called from behind the couple as several footsteps sounded behind them, making the husband and wife turn to where the sudden voice and footsteps came from. There they caught sight of three of their sons coming out of the room near the kitchen. Adam had been the one who had spoken.

"Hi sweetheart," Tasha smiled leaning over to kiss her eldest son on the cheek. She frowns a little, "Where are you going?"

Leo threw an arm around his mother. "Oh, nowhere mother! We just thought we'd catch a movie or something. See if anything good is out. You know, no biggie." Leo shrugged with a wide grin.

Tasha narrowed her eyes down at her youngest child; a suspicious glint in her nut-brown orbs. Something was up. Leo only called her that when he was either lying or up to something he shouldn't be up to. And most of the time, it was all of the above.

"What are you up to Leo?" her voice heavily laced with skepticism.

Leo's eyes widen slightly as his hands arose in surrender. "Nothing! Really! We just—"

"Wait!" Adam said, confused. "I thought you said we were going to that party to spy on Bree and Lyric? When did we change the plans?!"

"Adam!" Both Chase and Leo chorused in vexation.

"Wha—? I—Oooh!" Adam said, slowly nodding as his mouth formed a perfect 'O' shape. He scratches the back of his head awkwardly, realizing his mistake. His face then contorts into an apologetic mien. "Oppsies..."

"You all were going to _what_?" Tasha exclaimed, folding her arms against her chest with her eyebrows raised, staring at the three teens expectantly.

Despairingly, Chase sighed as he began to speak. "We were only going to check up on them, that's all."

"Yeah," Leo concurred. "And make sure those slimeballs keep their hands off our sisters."

"Ditto!" Adam said with a slight nod and a wide grin.

Tasha's features softened. "It's sweet that you guys want to be there for your sisters, but I don't think they'd appreciate you three spying on them. Besides, they're old enough and are very capable of handling certain things on their own."

"But—" Chase started.

"Nope."

"I—" Leo tried.

"Uh-uh."

"What if—" Adam began.

"No."

The three teens sighed in resignation.

"Fine." They all chorused.

"We won't go." Chase said while Adam and Leo slowly nodded in agreement.

"Good." Tasha smiled. "Don't worry, they'll be okay."

The four males watched as their mother slash wife ascended the stairs and as soon as a click could be heard from a door shutting upstairs, Donald quickly turned towards his sons.

"I want you three on them like white on rice you hear me?"

Chase gaped. "But... but, what about Tash—"

"Look, I'm all about what your mother said about your sisters being capable and all but I also know how kids you're ages think." He smirked. "If there anything like how we were then there is definitely something to worry about."

"And how exactly were you as a teen Mr. Davenport?" Adam asked, slightly intrigued.

"Yeah," Leo smirked, folding his arms against his chest. "Please, enlighten us, will you?"

Donald rolled his eyes. "That's not important right now. What's important is you three keeping a close eye on your sisters tonight, especially Lyric. Since this is her first 'social event' she's ever been invited to outside of school she could be very... _impressionable_. Don't get me wrong, I trust her and she's a smart girl. But anyone can be a victim to peer pressure," the older man then pointed his index fingers at himself, cheesing. "Even _mwah,_ as hard as _that_ is to believe."

The teens looked puzzled.

"Uh..."

Donald groaned. "You know what I mean!" He then sighed, "Just, try not to get caught because if you do, you three—" he pointed to each teen with his index finger, "are on your own."

Leo smirked; casually throwing an arm around his stepfather. "Don't worry, Big D. We've got this all under control, don't we guys?"

"Yep." The other two teens smiled.

Donald gave his sons a dubious stare. "I sure hope so..."

**. . . .**

"Well, well, well, look who decided to finally show up and grace us with his presence!" Sebastian said with a wide grin stretched across his face as he approached the three of them.

Kellan laughed as he gave the teen a one armed hug then a dab. "What's up man!"

"Nothing much, dude! You came just in time. Trent's already working on his seventh slice of pizza. You know he's already eaten like two whole boxes by himself?"

"No way!"

"Not lyin' man, he's a beast." The two teens laughed and that's when Sebastian noticed the two other figures standing behind his friend. "Oh, hey, what's up Bree."

She smiled and waved. "Hey Bas. How's Taylor doing?"

Sebastian smirked, "Oh, she's fine. She couldn't make it tonight though. Her old man grounded her cause he caught her sneaking out the other night."

"I don't even have to ask who she was sneaking out for." Kellan said, shaking his head as he snickered.

"Who else Kells? Who else?"

The teen chuckled then his eyes landed on the silent figure standing beside Bree.

"Hi Lyric."

"Hi." She said with a shy smile.

He gave a curt nod, then turned his attention back to Kellan. "Well whaddya waiting for, man? Everyone's here. Let's get this party goin'!"

"Awesome dude." Kellan smiled and turned towards Bree, reaching for her hand and following Sebastian. Lyric followed closely behind her elder sister, eyes glancing around the restaurant.

Her eyes settled on the figure she'd been searching for. Her heart nearly skips a beat.

There he was.

In rugged dark denim jeans, blue converse and his letter man jacket that somehow made him look ten times cuter.

Most importantly, she noticed immediately that he was alone.

And by alone she means without that trollop Bethanni hanging on his arm.

"There he is," Bree nudged her once they were seated at a booth. "You should go talk to him."

"But what about Bethanni?"

"What about her?" Bree snarled rolling her eyes. "I don't see her anywhere. Do you?"

"No—"

"Then now's the perfect time." Bree looked up and her eyes brightened, "Look, he's over there by the jukebox. Go now."

"Okay, okay, bossy." Lyric chuckled, then rose from her seat. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes briefly and moved across the room, bobbing and weaving through the crowd of people filling up the small restaurant. She gulps once she's near him, feeling her heart pound heavily against her chest.

_Breathe Lyric, breathe. He's just a human. He shouldn't make you nervous._

A human she's had a crush on for a whole year.

But... a human nonetheless.

"H-Hi." Lyric mentally face palmed herself for her cliché greeting.

He turned to look at her and she's immediately taken with by his intense amber eyes as they lock with her ordinary brown ones.

"Hi...?" he says, slightly perplexed.

"I'm Lyric," She continues on anyway. "We're in a couple classes together, well one actually." She attempts at a joke, he just stares at her with blank expression and for a moment she wonders why the heck coming over here was a good idea. "I um, I'm Bree's sister. She's with Kellan."

His eyebrows knit for a second then he nods. "Oh, yeah. Kellan's girl."

"Yup, that's the one..."

He continues through the wide selection of songs and Lyric just stands there awkwardly. She glances around the restaurant and catches Bree's gaze. She smiles encouragingly with two thumbs up. Lyric chuckles a little, shaking her head before turning back to the figure that stood before her.

"So, uh, what kind of music do you like?" she asks in hopes of sparking up a more interesting and less awkward conversation.

He shrugs, never taking his eyes off his task. "All kinds really. Rock, R&B—"

"I love R&B!"

He looks at her for a moment, nods, and then turns his attention back to the jukebox.

She swallows. "I um, I err, like a lot of old school music. You know, Hall & Oates, The Temptations, Tears for Fears, Marvin Gaye—"

"You like Marvin Gaye?" he asks, eyebrows raised with an enthralled look on his face. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

She bites her lip and nods a little.

He smiles.

And she swears,

It's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

"I like Marvin Gaye too," He smirks. _Oh God_. "I didn't think many girls my age would be interested in quality music such as his."

"Well," Lyric shrugs. "I'm not like many girls."

He quirks an eyebrow at her, visibly amused by her slight sass. "Mmm. I see." he nods at her. "What's one your favorite song by him?"

She scoffs, "Easy, _Just To Keep You Satisfied_."

"Wow, um, that's mine's too." He says, his smile widening. "Hey um, what did you say your name was again?"

She grins, "Lyric. Lyric Dooley."

"Lyric, I like that. Has a nice ring to it," He nods, almost approvingly and then holds his hand out to her and at that moment she can only hope her palms aren't as clammy as they feel. "My name's Mordecai. Mordecai Christakos."

_I know._

But instead she says, while shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mordecai."

"Mm, the pleasures all mine, Miss Dooley."

She giggles at this and together they end up picking through Marvin Gaye songs the jukebox provided.

Incidentally, _Just To Keep You Satisfied_ was among the very few — out of all the famous musician's songs.

"Would you like to dance?" he asks and she could almost feel her heart drop down into the pit of her stomach as she nods eagerly.

"I would love to."

And as he leads her out onto the small dance floor in the middle of the crowded restaurant, she catches a glimpse of her elder sister watching her from across the room with a shocked, yet excited expression. When she turns back to Mordecai, she could hear the slight gasp that escapes past her lips when her eyes lock with his.

His beautiful ambers.

She tentatively wraps her arms around his neck as his hands slide around her waist, pulling her close against him.

So close.

Intoxicatingly close.

As they began to sway to the music, Lyric couldn't help but feel like she was being watched.

Closely.

It made her feel a bit on edge.

Reluctantly, she tore her eyes away from Mordecai and to where her elder sister was.

Nope.

She was now busy with Kellan – making out. She chuckled a little, turning away from them. Goodness those two stayed in the honeymoon faze.

"What's so funny?" Mordecai suddenly asks, and she momentarily forgets her uneasy feeling of being watched.

"Nothing... I was just thinking."

"About?"

She bites her lip before replying.

"About what it's like to be in love."

He nods slowly, his expression is pensive but he doesn't respond and she's left to feel like a complete idiot, until...

"You've never been in love before?"

She's taken aback for a moment, but then, slowly, she shakes her head.

"No... have you?"

"...Yes. At least I thought I was."

"Oh."

After a few moments of silence, he speaks again.

"Her name was Iris, Iris Nylund. She was a foreign exchange student from Finland."

He then proceeds to tell her of this Iris girl, even though she insists that he doesn't have to if it was too difficult to talk about. He insisted that he was over it and that it was a thing of the past now. She's hesitant, but nodded anyway.

"It was a couple years back; I think I was a sophomore at the time. She was older than me, a junior, if I can remember correctly." He speaks in a reminiscent manner. Continuing, he said, "Since she was a foreign exchange student, Principal Perry assigned me as the person to show her around. Make sure she well acquainted with her classes and the whole bit."

"She wasn't the most attractive girl, at least not in the traditional sense. She didn't look like all the other girls who wore pounds and pounds of makeup and she didn't dress like she just came off the cover of Vogue. She was as ordinary and average as they come. Yet, that's what I liked — no, _loved_ most about her. She wasn't like most girls. She dared to be different. I was drawn to that. That part of her that seemed almost resilient to the matters of what everyone else thought about her."

"She had no other friends except me. Kids teased her a lot because of her accent, too. They taunted her, ridiculed her because she was different." He explained, with what Lyric could detect was a hint of contempt in his voice. "She ignored it most of time, never responded or reacted to much of the jokes and jibes people made at her."

"That is, until, one day I guess she'd had enough. She broke down in tears, in my car. She cried so much. I just held her. Held her so tight I never wanted to let her go. And I remember that look in her eyes, the look of someone who was tired, exhausted and worn out. And honestly; I think it was then that I had fallen in love with her. When I seen that look in her eyes, I wanted nothing more than to take away that pain, emptiness and hurt I knew she was feeling. I wanted to beat the living crap out of all the worthless people who've hurt her, made her feel like she meant nothing, but really, she meant so much to me. Much more than I even realized then."

"She told me I was only person she trusted — her only friend. The only person she could truly confide in. She told me she loved me," he chuckled a little as they somehow managed to maintain rhythm as they continue to sway to Marvin Gaye. "The rest is kind of history. We became a couple after her mini breakdown. It actually had made us a lot closer than we already were before."

"I was happy. She seemed happy. Things were going good — great even. I was ready to finally introduce her to my parents, which was sort of a big deal since my folks are a little... on the controlling side. I knew they'd most likely judge Iris and wouldn't want me going out with her, but I didn't care. I was willing to endure whatever my parents had to dish out cause I knew whatever they had to say about Iris would go in one ear and out the other."

"I even lost some friends, though, I wouldn't really call them "friends," they had stuck by me for quite some time. For some reason, they didn't like her and thought she was weird. They even gave me an ultimatum, either I dump her or the friendship was over." He smirked a little, but there was an underlying sadness there as he shook his head. "Needless to say, I chose Iris. I always chose her. When it came to her, there really wasn't any other option."

"We'd only been together a total of six months, but I was head over heels. I was sure she was the one — she had to be."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "It had been a Friday afternoon when she stood me up. We were supposed to go see one of the new Marvel movies, I can't remember which one it was, but she had been begging me to see it with her, practically since the they had released the trailer for it. That's why I knew something had to be wrong when she didn't show, nor did she answer any of my calls or texts. I freaked out. I thought something horrible had happened to her. I searched everywhere. All of our hangout spots. She was nowhere to be found. So, as my last option, I went to her house, asked if she was home. Her mother said yes and that she was upstairs already with a friend but that I was more than welcome to join them. I was confused, but accepted anyway."

"As I made my way up the stairs and down the hallway, I remember hearing strange noises. Noises I couldn't quite place at the time, and before I could even think about knocking, I opened the door and there I seen it — with my own eyes. She was in bed, having sex with my former ex-best friend, Jared."

He shook his head again, "He had been one of the people who called her a freak of nature, completely humiliated her. And there she was, committing the ultimate betrayal with my supposed best friend. She was my everything; I loved her and was willing to sacrifice so much to be with her and yet, I still wasn't enough for her. She broke my heart."

"I ended it with her even after she had the nerve to beg for my forgiveness, pleaded with me that it was a mistake. And you know what made it worse? She had been with him for nearly three months. How I didn't figure it out sooner is beyond me. I guess she was a better liar than I thought."

"I think she ended up moving back to Finland the following year we broke up. After that whole fiasco, I kind of developed trust issues, you know. I've had a hard time with relationships since being with Iris. She completely messed with my head and caused me to be a lot less trusting than I was before. For that, I will never be able to forgive her for. She took a piece of me that I will never be able to get back no matter how hard I try."

Silence enveloped around them as Lyric processed everything.

She looked up at Mordecai and felt that familiar swelling of affection in her chest for the boy in front of her that she always felt — for a whole year, actually.

But this time, it's much more intense than it ever was before.

"I'm so sorry."

He shook his head, "Don't be. It is what it is, you know. It's life. You learn to live with it." He shrugged.

She nods.

"She's an idiot you know, for what she did to you, how she treated you. You didn't deserve that..."

He stares at her for brief moment, almost contemplating if she truly meant what she said or not.

He doesn't respond and they keep on swaying just as the song is nearing its end.

"I never told anyone that story," he finally says, staring down at her.

Her eyebrows rose in shock, "You haven't?"

"Nope." He shook his head and with a smirk, he says, "I guess you must be somethin' special, huh?"

She bites her lip, eyes never leaving his amber orbs.

"Guess so."

The song came to an end, but the two didn't immediately pull apart. It was only when some of his teammates called him over. It seemed to snap them both out of the trance they seemed to have been in.

Mordecai had ended up inviting her over to the table he was sitting at, which was filled with most of the players and their girlfriends who, majority of them, but not all, were on the cheer leading team, meaning they were friends with no other person than Bethanni. It would definitely explain the glares and wary looks they were giving her when she sat down at the booth followed closely by Mordecai.

Some of them were nice, like Charlotte, who was the girlfriend of Julian Marshall, the teams halfback. And Penelope, who was actually the twin sister of Chandler Bateman, one of the defense guards on the team as well.

They were friendly and made her feel a lot less like the odd girl out.

The rest of night went by without incident.

She and Mordecai continued talking throughout the night or as much as they could without one of his teammates interrupting, namely Trent. She tried to ignore him as best as she could. For some odd reason; he was being a lot more pushy, annoying and irritating than he usually was. She figured it was the fact that all of his teammates and football friends were there and he was trying to come across as some big shot in front of them.

Trent wasn't the only thing that was bothering her the entire night though, that feeling had returned. The feeling as if she was being watched again. She found herself throughout the night, glancing around the restaurant in hopes of catching someone, anyone, but she came up with nothing.

She just sighed and tried to shrug it off, chalking it up to her just being slightly paranoid.

Sooner, rather than later, she received a text from Bree informing her that it was time to go. Lyric typed in a brief reply, letting her elder sister know that she was coming. She turned to see Mordecai staring at her with a blank expression. She gave him an apologetic look. Reluctantly, she let him know that she had to leave and judging by the slight frown in his handsome dark features, she could only suspect that he didn't want her to go just yet.

He gave a curt nod and just as she said her goodbyes to Charlotte and Penelope, who she had exchanged numbers with before the night came to an end, his hand caught her elbow.

"Wait a minute."

And then he did the unexpected.

He asked for her number!

She tried her best to conceal the giddiness she felt inside as she punched her cell number into the device that belonged to him. She even screwed up her own number two or three times before verifying that the cell number she had entered into the prompt was correct on the screen. She then tapped _OK_ and handed the cellular back to him.

"See you around, Miss Dooley."

She blushed,"Yeah, see you around..."

She then quickly linked up with Bree and Kellan as they were saying their goodbyes. Bree just gave her a knowing smile. She didn't saying anything until they were in the car, heading home.

"So, did you have fun?" She had asked, turning to look at her from her position in the front seat.

Lyric rolled eyes her despite the wide grin that was stretched across her face. "If you're inferring about how things with Mordecai and I went, well let's just say I should be expecting a phone call from him soon."

Bree grinned, "Wow, my little sister, on her way to having her first boyfriend."

Lyric chuckled but didn't reply.

It didn't take long before they pulled up into the driveway. Lyric frowned only momentarily when she seen Adam's jeep parked on the street. He usually parked it in the driveway or in the garage, never in the street unless he forgot to, which he did occasionally. Still though, it was odd.

"Thanks for the ride, Kellan. I really appreciated it."

Kellan smiled sincerely, "Any time, kiddo."

Waggishly, she rolled her eyes as she moseyed up the walkway leading to the front door. She glanced over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Bree standing on her tip toes, arms wrapped around Kellan's neck, leaning up for a kiss.

Lyric smiled and shook her head. Before she could even slide her key into the lock, the door already swung open revealing her three brothers with a look on each of their faces that she couldn't quite place.

"Oh, hey guys."

"How was the party?" Chase asked nearly cutting her off.

She frowned a little as she moved past them. "It was fine."

"Did anything interesting happen? Something you'd like to tell us."

She made a face at Adam, then shook her head.

Warily, she replied, "Um, no. Why?"

Adam shook his head; arms folded against his chest. "Just checking... by the way; where's Bree?"

Lyric blinked. "She's outside saying goodnight to Kellan."

"Sure she is," Adam quipped.

"Right, well um, I'm calling it in for the night so if you see mom or Big D can you tell them the party was great and that I said goodnight?"

"Will do, sis," Chase answered through gritted teeth.

Lyric nodded but didn't proceed up the stairs. She stared at her brothers for a second.

"Are you guys okay? You're acting kind of... strange."

"Define strange."

Lyric rolled her eyes at her twin. "Strange as in you guys are up to something so spill."

She was then met with silence, utter and complete silence. After a short time went by, Lyric huffed rolling her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. Don't tell me." Turning her back towards them, she began climbing the stairs. "I just hope you three don't end up grounded like last time." She smirked, "Night, weirdos!" She had called over her shoulder once she finally reached the top of the stairs.

Once the three remaining teens were sure their sister was out of ear shot, Leo threw his hands up in disbelief.

"Can you believe her? Acting all innocent, like she wasn't just hugged up with some guy all night."

"I know," Adam concurred, visibly perturbed. "It was hard enough watching Bree and Kellan suck face all night, but Lyric? I never would've thought she'd turn into a Bree 2.0." He shook his head, "That's the last time I go spying on Bree and Lyric again."

"WHAT!"

To say that the color drained from each of their faces as they slowly turned around to meet the heated gaze of Bree, who stood with her arms folded against her chest and her eyebrows raised, would have been a true understatement.

"Uh oh..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment, kudo and tell me whatcha think! :)


	9. VIII.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyric finds out the truth. O.o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely some fluff in this chapter.  
> Hope you enjoy! Xx

_**VIII.** _

Lyric emitted a deep, audible breath as she slung her book bag across her room and practically threw herself onto her bed. She couldn't have been more delighted at the verity that it was finally Friday and she had this whole weekend to herself.

Honestly, after the week she's had; she was exhausted.

Mentally, emotionally and physically.

It had been nearly two and a half weeks since that party she went to with Bree and a lot of things had changed since then. Not drastic, life changing things, but enough to make an impact on her life to a certain degree, nevertheless.

Starting with Mordecai.

Two days (two long, _drawn-out_ , _interminable_ days might she add) after the party, Sunday afternoon, he had phoned her.

She had been smack dab in the middle of she and Clover's gossip session. Well, it was a session of talking but there wasn't much gossip, at least not about other people. Anyway, she was halfway through telling Clover what had taken place that night between her and Mordecai when her phone suddenly went off. She hadn't recognized the number so she admits she sounded a bit wary when she answered.

' _Hey, uh, this is Lyric, right? It's Mordecai. You know, from the party a couple days ago._ '

She nearly flipped when it finally registered in her mind who it was. They ended up chatting for hours. Fifteen minutes in; Clover mouthed that she was heading home with a waggish grin. She felt slightly bad for it, she honestly hadn't meant to get tied into a prolonged conversation with Mordecai like she had.

She admits to most likely getting carried away with the excitement of him calling, I mean, she waited not-so-patiently for two days for his call. Behavior like that resembled something her older sister would do or had done or is still doing even with a boyfriend. An act, if anyone knew, namely her brothers, she was sure she'd get teased for it.

Or maybe not.

Maybe they'd be more dumbstruck than anything. Such uncharacteristic behavior like waiting around by the phone for a boy to call her was extremely similar to something Bree would do without a doubt, but Lyric? No way.

You see; she wasn't like most girls her age, or most girls in general. As a child, she took the meaning of a tom boy to a whole other level. She absolutely hated dresses, skirts, bows, or anything that bare a resemblance to a girly girl. Her usual getup were overalls; or basic t-shirt and jeans. She also hated pig tails and would throw temper tantrums as a little girl whenever her mother or grandmother tried to make her wear them, which they seldom did if they wanted to deal with a ill-tempered child for the rest of the evening. She behaved the same way with dresses and skirts, which she never really wore unless they were attending a special event or going to church, which they did, every Sunday and every Sunday before church it would be an absolute catastrophe.

As a child, little girls never really developed a fondness or liking towards her, but she always got along well with the boys pretty easily. The reasoning behind that sort of goes without saying: she was one of the boys.

Not much changed as she'd gotten older, physically or personality wise. She never really grew out of that tom boy stage. As a preteen she found herself still loathing girly things like dresses, makeup and mini skirts. It wasn't as bad as it was when she was little, but she still refused to wear any of that rubbish.

As she got a little older, like when she entered her freshman year of high school. Things had changed, but only a little bit. She delved into makeup a little more than she ever would have, wearing only lip gloss and a little mascara. She still stuck to her overalls, but she did occasionally wear stylish clothing that didn't require a dress or skirt.

Not much had changed in the present day. She still sported her infamous overalls, jeans and a t-shirt, but they weren't as Plain Jane as before. She added a bit more pizazz to her appearance, but not enough to attract attention.

But she never really cared too much about it, I mean, all that mattered was how she felt about herself and not what other people thought. Besides, Clover accepted her for who she was, and her family did as well.

Like when she had first met the Davenports, she immediately got along with Adam. Chase, not so much, but that was for other reasons that didn't have much to do with her appearance, (or at least she thought it didn't).

Bree, however, was a different story.

The problem with Bree was the fact that she was so persistent on trying to give her a makeover, suggesting different things she could do with her hair, makeup and clothes. And for a while, (though, Lyric would never admit it to her older sister) she didn't like Bree too much in the beginning. It irked – and slightly offended – Lyric that Bree felt the need to treat her as if she were a mannequin that she could dress up or down whenever she wanted to. She knew Bree was only trying to help, but, the gesture of it all rubbed Lyric the wrong way. It reminded her of those girls back in junior high, who would toot their nose up and gossip about her behind her back because dressed and acted different than everyone else.

After a while though; Bree stopped trying to be her stylist and started acting like a big sister, instead. She even went as far as sticking up for her whenever she could and honestly, Lyric appreciates that a lot more than she lets on.

Bree had later apologized about how she behaved and said that even though she came across as being hurtful; she only had the best intentions at heart. They ended up hugging it out and watching _Bridesmaids_. They ended up laughing so hard tears poured from their eyes at an unnatural rate. After that, they had gotten closer and their relationship had gotten a lot better – a work in progress – but _better_ nevertheless.

Her family and Clover – who she already considers family – had accepted and loved her for who she was. They were all that mattered, right?

Lyric rolled onto her back and stared blankly at her ceiling.

Her mind then began to ponder over her siblings and how aberrant they'd been acting all week – especially, Bree. She had been ignoring Adam, Chase and Leo like the plague, especially whenever they were all in one room together. She would almost always have something contemptuously sardonic to say whenever either of them attempted to talk to her or engage her in a conversation.

Lyric had been sort of been, unceremoniously, appointed the referee between her siblings whenever an argument broke out between one of her brothers and Bree.

Something definitely went down between those four, what exactly, Lyric didn't know. She just hoped whatever it was they would squash it soon because playing the buffer between those four was becoming less and less amusing and more and more of a pain as the days went on.

Lyric wasn't sure if her mother and stepfather knew about her siblings' constant bickering or not, although she assumed they didn't because knowing her mother and stepfather, the situation between her brothers and sister would have already been handled by now.

**_Ding!_ **

Lyric flinched from the sudden sound that startled her from her train of thoughts. She blinked, discerning that the sound had come from her phone, a notification indicating a new text message. She dug around in the pockets of her jeans, emitting a soft sigh once her fingers gripped the device that had been stuffed in her left back pocket.

' _Babeeee! P's rents r gone on a business trip. it's just her and her brother. Wanna hang? ;P_ ' —3:33 P.M.

Lyric grinned. That was another thing. Charlotte and Penelope. The two other good things that came out of attending that party. She managed to make two new friends! How great was that?

Char and P (her nicknames for them) were definitely not the type of girls Lyric ever seen herself becoming friends with, yet here she was. They were apart of the popular crowd, hung in the same circles as Mordecai and even Kellan, but even though they were what many of the students at Mission Creek High deemed popular, they were pretty down to earth and didn't seem to let the title get to their heads like a lot of other kids their age.

Well... maybe Charlotte did sometimes, but that was just apart of her personality. She had her diva moments, yes, but for the most part she was relatively a cool girl to be around. Except, of course, when she was ranting about Julian, her unfaithful boyfriend (which was 75% of the time), but that is neither here nor there.

Not only were they super cool to hang around but they were also seniors, which didn't hurt when it came to being able to skip long lunch lines, attend off campus lunch with them, and being the first to know about all the coolest parties beforehand and getting an invitation simply because she was friends with them.

It was a nice feeling to have for once, to feel accepted by your peers, even if the circumstances were superficial.

' _of course :)_ ' —3:35 P.M.

' _Kay. P and I will b there in 10_.' —3:35 P.M.

' _see ya then_.' —3:35 P.M.

Lyric sprung up from her bed; set to change into another set of clothes for her pending festivities when the sound of a door slamming and voices that sounded a lot like Bree and Chase coming from downstairs halted her. It sounded like they were arguing. She groaned. There was no way she'd be dealing with their back and forth all weekend.

Yanking her door open, she trekked down the long hallway, turned the corner and descended down the stairs. Her suspicions confirmed as she seen her siblings in what seemed to be a heated dispute.

"You had no right, Chase! How would you like it if Lyric and I went spying on you and Angela?! You would of had a conniption fit and you know it!"

"That's different Bree—"

"How exactly?" Bree challenged, folding her arms against her chest.

Chase seemed to struggle with finding the right words to say, so instead he says, "It just is, Bree!"

She scoffed, "You can't even find a legitimate reason to justify your actions." She shakes her head. "How pathetic."

Chase was set to reply, but Lyric thought it was time to step in before either of them said something they might regret.

"Whoa, hold it right there!" She said, descending the last few steps on the stairs then moved towards the living room where they stood. "You know I could hear you two all the way upstairs." She sighed folding her arms against her chest. "What's going on this time?"

The two fell silent for a brief second before Bree spoke up. "Go on Chase, tell her what you and the other two stooges did, or shall I?"

Lyric frowned, then turned to face Chase. "Chase, what is Bree talking about?"

Chase looked as if he was about to protest, but when his eyes locked with hers, his countenance quickly turned from pugnacious to abjection. He tore his eyes away from hers, avoiding eye contact for a moment before sighing dejectedly before he spoke.

"That party you and Bree went to, a couple weeks back. I... Leo, Adam and I followed you guys there and... we may have spied on you guys the entire time." He finished the last part so quickly Lyric barely caught any of it, but when it finally registered, her eyes widen as she gawked at her brother.

"It was _you_?!"

"Yes, we... wait, what are you talking about?"

"The entire night I kept feeling like... like I was being watched or something. I thought I was just being paranoid but... I wasn't. It was the three of you... and Adam's car—" She cut herself off and slowly, she shook her head as her eyes filled with in what Chase believed to be disappointment.

He expected a tongue lashing, a witty remark, _something,_ but all he got was the sight of her turning away from him and promenading towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Bree had asked before he could even get the chance.

With one hand on the doorknob, she turned around to look at Bree.

"Out."

"With who?"

"Friends from school. Don't worry, I won't be gone long. I just... need some fresh air." She gave Bree a brief and from what Chase could tell, forced smile before casting her gaze to him with one last saddened look before disappearing out the door.

His heart sunk at the look his sister gave him before she left, and an overwhelming feeling of dread overcame him at the very thought of her being upset with him. As if Bree wasn't enough, he wasn't sure if he could handle, much less withstand _both_ of his sister's wrath.

Bree said nothing to him as she reached for her book bag that had been slung onto the couch some time during their dispute and ascended the stairs, leaving him all alone to submerge in his own thoughts.

**. . . .**

"Lyr,"

"...Lyric,"

"...Lyric!"

"Huh, what? What's wrong?"

"Alright," Penelope sighed, pausing the movie they were currently watching and turned her body towards her. "What's the matter?"

Lyric frowned, "What do you mean? Nothing's the matter—"

"Bull." Charlotte interjected. "You've been acting odd ever since we picked you up and don't even try and deny it Missy. Spill... is it something we did?"

Lyric shook her head. "What? Of course not. No, it's just..." she sighed, "It's just something I recently found out my brothers did that really upset me, that's all."

"Oh." Charlotte and Penelope said simultaneously.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Penelope offered.

Lyric shook her head. "Not really."

Penelope just nodded. Lyric knew if it had been Clover she would have given free rein to whatever came out of her mouth in regards to what she was feeling about her brothers at the moment, but with Charlotte and Penelope, she didn't feel as comfortable doing so... at least not yet.

Even though she practically spent an entire two weeks glued at the hip with them, and had gotten to know them a lot better, she still wasn't _completely_ comfortable sharing certain things with them yet, especially if it concerned her family. It wasn't anything they did; it was just the way she was, with everyone she just met. She definitely wasn't an open book when it came to meeting new people.

It was the exact same way when she had first met Clover all those years ago and the Davenports. It took her nearly a year and a half to finally let her walls down and accept the fact that Donald Davenport, Adam, Bree and Chase weren't going anywhere any time soon, so gradually, she became less guarded around the trio.

Especially, Chase.

Ironically, the one she argued with the most had wound up being the one she became the closet to. She guesses it was why she found herself most upset with him out of all her brothers. She would expect that kind of behavior from Adam and Leo, but Chase?

She mentally shook her head of the thoughts of her brother and her disappointment in him for what he did.

"Well, on the bright side," Charlotte spoke, interrupting her thoughts, a slow smile stretching across her face. "A little birdie told me Mordecai dumped his girlfriend for another cutie he's got his eye on."

Lyric's eyes slowly widen in trepidation. "Another girl? Who?"

Charlotte and Penelope burst into audible fits of laughter while Lyric frowned at them, utterly confused. "What's so funny?"

"So you _do_ like him!"

Lyric rolled her eyes at the two. "I never said I didn't."

"Yeah, but you never said you _did_ either."

"Whatever."

"Awe, don't be embarrassed Lyric, I think you two would be cute together." Penelope grinned. "Wouldn't they Char?"

"Definitely." The darker-haired girl nodded with assurance. "I would even go as far as saying you two have the potential of becoming Mission Creek High's hottest new couple." Charlotte winked, nudging her a little.

Lyric chuckled, rolling her eyes, despite the fact that she wasn't opposed to what she was hearing. "First of all; you two read way too much _Cosmopolitan_ and second, we've only talked on the phone a couple times. I don't even know if he actually _likes_ me or not."

"He does." Charlotte said rather assertively.

"And how, exactly, would you know this?"

"'Cause," Charlotte's shoulders hitched up, "You're the girl he dumped Bethanni for, at least according to Trout Mouth Trinity." Charlotte smirked.

" _What!_ " Lyric squeaked.

"Yep. Plus, from what I heard, it wasn't even that serious between those two. They went out on a couple dates and that was it. No biggie."

Lyric's stomach bubbled with excitement and endless possibilities. She could only hope what Charlotte was saying was the truth. I mean, she and Mordecai did talk on the phone a lot more than just a "few" times. He had called her practically everyday after that party, if not everyday than certainly every other day. And he would, every so often, slip in something like how pretty she looked that day, or how he couldn't stop staring at her whenever they crossed paths during passing periods. She wasn't sure if that would be considered _flirting_ or not. She wasn't very experienced in _this_ area with boys.

Yes, she was fine being friends with them, but anything more than that had her at a loss.

It was an unfortunate flaw of hers that would need fixing a-sap.

The three teens continued to talk some more, the conversation drifting towards something that Julian did that completely annoyed Charlotte – Lyric wasn't sure. Her mind was already racing with thoughts of Mordecai and if it really was true.

Did he like her as much as _she_ liked him?

Probably not, but if he did _at least_ like her it was a start, right?

After a while they got bored with the movie and decided to watch something else. Halfway through the next movie, Lyric informed them that it was getting kind of late and that she should be heading home. They agreed, reluctantly might she add, but agreed nonetheless.

"I had fun, thanks for inviting me over."

"Any time, girlfriend. My parents are gone most of the time so it's usually just me and my brother. It can get kind of lonely sometimes so it's nice to have some company every now and then." Penelope explained with a light shrug and Lyric couldn't help but feel a bit empathetic for her new friend. She could tell the girl tried to pass it off as nonchalant but Lyric knew. She could see the slight lonesomeness in her dark gray eyes. Lyric could peep that look out anywhere.

"I'm always here, you know, if you need to talk."

Penelope smiled and nodded. "Yeah..." was her only reply.

Lyric nods and thanks them again before bidding them both goodbye. She gave them one last wave before watching them disappear down the street, turn a corner and they were gone.

A small smile pulls across her face as she enters into the Davenport-Dooley household as a pleasant aroma fills her nostrils. Closing the door behind her, whatever melancholia she had been feeling before temporarily dissipates when she sees her mother and stepfather in the kitchen with their backs turned towards her.

Her stepfather had his arms wrapped around her mother's waist, whispering something in her ear. Lyric smiled when her mother laughed and swatted at her him, the smile never leaving her mother's face.

Even though she sometimes acted like she was repulsed by their public displays of affection, most of the time, she thought it rather sweet and endearing.

Anyone with eyes could see those two lovebirds were in love. It wasn't so much as hearing them say it often to one another, but it was more of their lingering stares, the way they talked to each other, and through their actions is how Lyric knew it had to be love.

One time she even caught them lounging on the couch, her stepfather's head rested upon her mother's lap with a tablet in hand, her mother flipping through one of her woman's magazines. She hummed as her hands casually raked through her stepfather's hair. They looked so relaxed, laid-back and in love. It was a total Kodak moment that Lyric wished she could have captured.

She knew her mother was happy. Leo did too. It was the happiest either twin had ever seen their mother and seeing that Big D made their mother happy made them happy.

Their mother deserved to be happy, deserved to be loved, especially after everything their biological father put them through, put _her_ through.

Not wanting to interrupt or disturb their little lovefest, she quickly sneaks away up the stairs.

**. . . .**

Lyric huffed in exasperation as she finally stilled her self long enough to stare up at her ceiling in aggravation. She had spent at least the last hour and a half or tossing and turning; pulling and kicking the covers on and off of her, turning her pillows over and over like a mad woman. All she wanted was a night of peaceful sleep. Was that too much to ask?

She chanced a glance at her clock perched on her nightstand.

2:23 A.M.

She groaned a little. She knew she was tired, but she just couldn't get herself to fall asleep.

"Screw it." She muttered, throwing her comforter from her body, swinging her legs off the bed, she reached for her purple colored throw blanket, grabbed her cell and quietly opened her door.

She bit down on her lip as her eyes scanned the vacant hallway. Silently, she tip toed down the hall as quietly as she could, overhearing the snores of her siblings as she passes their rooms.

She expelled a sigh of relief once she reached the first floor without making too much noise. She padded her way across the living room, failing to notice the dark figure situated at the kitchen table.

Pulling out a glass from the cabinet, it was only when the light from the refrigerator illuminated the area of the kitchen as she pulled out the milk carton is when she finally took notice of the unmoving figure. An audible gasp escaped past her lips as she dropped the carton of milk, splattering the liquid inside on the kitchen floor.

The figure stood from their seating place, and moved towards her. She exhaled when the familiar face appeared from the darkness.

"Lyric, are you okay?" Chase asked, his voice and countenance laced with concern.

She sighed, rolling her eyes a little before reaching for the cloth near the stove, bending down, set to clean the mess she's made. "I'm fine. You scared me, though."

"Oh, sorry.."

He bent down as well, assisting her with cleaning the mess in silence. They were able to get most of it up, thank goodness only a small amount leaked from the carton.

"What are you doing up so late anyway?" she asks after tossing the used cloth into the sink, Lyric proceeded with her task of pouring herself a glass of milk.

"I could ask you same thing," Chase asserted, folding his arms against his chest.

Lyric shrugged, turning and opening the fridge and setting the carton back inside. "Yeah, you could. But I asked you first." She smirked, taking a small sip of her milk and padding her way over to the sofa and plopping down onto it.

Chase followed and took a seat next to her. He sighed. "I couldn't sleep."

She looked over at him, wanting to regard him with enmity for she was still upset with him for what he, Adam and Leo did.

But after a quick surveying, she took note to his gloomy demeanor and honestly didn't have the heart to treat him that way. She may have been upset with him, but that didn't mean she didn't care about him. He was still her brother, best friend and confidant.

"Me either."

There was a brief silence between them as Lyric took another sip of her milk and then set it down onto the coffee table. She snuggled into her throw blanket.

"...I'm sorry."

She looks at him, but he continues to look down, fiddling with the material of his black sweats.

"I only did it because I was worried."

Lyric frowned. "You were worried? Worried about what?"

That's when he turns to look at her. "You and Bree, but especially you."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because, what?"

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Get hurt? Why would you think I would get hurt?"

He scoffed. "Because you were right, I am a paranoid man."

Lyric smiled at this, even giggled a little. "Be serious, Chase."

"I am. It was your first high school party and... I promise Adam, Leo, and I were only trying to look out for you guys. It may of come across as shady and unethical, but we only had the best intentions."

Lyric didn't immediately respond as she processed what Chase had just said. She bit her lip and after a moment she says, "I can look out for myself."

Chase's eyes softened a bit before before he responded, "Whether you can or can't isn't the issue here."

"Then what is?"

Chase paused for a moment before answering, then, "the uncontrollable."

Lyric made a face. "The uncontrollable?"

Chase simply nodded. "Things can happen... _bad_ things...unexpectedly, without so much as a warning, in a blink of an eye. I've seen it happen, Lyric. On the news, at school, at work, from other people. And... it scares me. All the time." He raked a hand through his hair as he continued, "I constantly worry."

"...What do you worry about, Chase?"

Broodingly, he answers, " _everything_... I worry about school, my job at Tech Town, my relationship with Angela, what college I'm going to end up attending, my grades, if I'm good enough..." He maundered a little, "I worry about our mom and dad. Adam, Bree, and Leo..."

He turns to face her, pausing. His hazel orbs displaying something Lyric couldn't quite place at that moment. She gulps.

"You," he finally says, his voice soft and dim. "I worry about you, Lyric. You and Leo. I worry about losing you two one day..."

There was a sense of vulnerability in his eyes, in his voice. It was a trait so unlike him and it truly shook her to the core. She was rendered speechless for the next few seconds, unsure of what to say and how to say it. So, instead, she just inched closer to him and rested her head down upon his shoulder and whispered, "you're never going to lose me, Chase. Or Leo, or any of us. We'll always be here..."

"You can't promise that," he whispered a second later.

"No, I can't." she sighs and looks up at him. "But what I _can_ promise is that I will always be here for you whenever you need me, no matter what. You're my brother and I'll always love you, even if you are a pain."

Chase cracked a small smile and Lyric couldn't help but fill with great delight at the sight.

"Oh, and one more thing," he turns to look at her and she grins. "I forgive you."

He seemed to beam at this, lifting his arm slightly to wrap around her form.

"You do?"

"Yes, but, don't ever do what you did again or the next time you won't be as fortunate."

Chase, leaning back onto the chesterfield a bit more, and emitted a deep sigh.

"Alright, deal. But—"

"Nope. No butts, Chase."

"What if—"

"Chase."

He sighed in resignation and gave a slight nod.

"Fine."

Lyric smiled; the feeling of languor and sleepiness beginning to envelope her as she snuggled up to Chase.

"Good." she murmurs, closing her eyes.

Chase gave a snort. "Now I just have to get Bree on my good side again. Maybe you could talk to her for me?" Chase looks down, "Lyric? Lyr?"

Realizing that she has fallen asleep, he chuckles a little. "I can't believe you left me hanging like that."

Slowly and carefully, he sits up, moving off the couch. Her body slumps a little. "You always were a heavy sleeper..." he whispers, then carefully, he lifts her up into his arms and ambles through the living room, up the stairs, and down the hallway as silently as possible. Thank goodness her door was left ajar. He uses minimal force to push her room door open.

Vigilantly, he ambles through the threshold and slowly sets her down onto her bed. She stirs only a little and Chase's mouth curls into a soft smile.

Pulling the covers over her unmoving form, he leans down and places a gentle kiss to her temple.

"I love you, too." he murmurs, then moves back to stare at her for a moment before retreating to her doorway and with a hand on the doorknob, he casts one last glance her way before whispering, "Goodnight, little sis."

And then he was gone, completely missing the small smile forming on his younger stepsister's face as he ambles back to his room for the night.


	10. IX.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase attends his weekly therapy session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so first off, this chapter was so friggin' hard for me to write. Second, this chapter's going to be on a more serious note because it's dealing with a serious issue that effects many people. If it happens to offend anyone my apologies, it really isn't my intention.
> 
> So, I think that's it for now. Apologies for any OOCness, grammatical errors, typos, etc.  
> Enjoy Xx

_**IX.** _

"So first and foremost: how are you feeling today, Chase?"

"Great, actually. A lot better than I was a week ago, that's for sure."

"Oh? What happened a week ago?"

"My sisters went to some party a couple weeks back and my brothers and I went and spied on them. Eventually, they ended up finding out about it," the teenage genius shook his head, "To say they were pissed about it would be an understatement, doc."

The elder man nodded slightly, jotting down a few notes on his legal pad.

"They had a right to be Chase, don't you think? Their privacy was invaded — by their own family. That couldn't have been a good feeling for them experience."

"Yeah," Chase sighed. "I was only trying to look out for them."

"Why?"

Chase scoffed. "Because they're my sisters, that's why. I'm their brother. It's my job to protect them."

"From what, exactly?"

Chase paused for a moment before answering, "From getting hurt."

Dr. Kasaparian nods again, scribbling some more things down on his pad.

"Bree, she has a boyfriend, Kellan Fisher is the boy's name, correct?"

"Yes sir."

Dr. Kasparian nods. "How do you feel about her having a boyfriend?"

Chase's shoulders hitch up. "Like any brother would; I mean, I'm not particularly thrilled at the idea of some guy all over my sister, but, Kellan's a good guy and she seems happy and as long as he doesn't break her heart, I'm okay with it... for now, at least."

"What about Lyric?"

Chase frowns, "What about her?"

"Does she have a boyfriend?"

"No." Chase answers a bit too quickly, and a little too fiercely, Dr. Kasparian notes.

"Would it be a problem for you if Lyric had a boyfriend—"

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, Dr. Kasparian." Chase insists, through slightly gritted teeth.

He notes this.

"Yes, Chase, but hypothetically speaking, would you have a problem with the possibility?"

"I—" Chase closes his eyes, breathes, and answers, "yes."

"Why is that?"

"She's not ready."

"Fifteen is the age most girls her age start dating, Chase. It wouldn't be unusual if—"

"Doc, can we uh, can we change the subject?"

"Chase—"

"Dr. Kasparian, please," Chase seethed.

The elder man heaved a sigh, scribbling down some more notes before nodding.

"Very well..." The therapist peered at his longtime patient, observing the teen closely. He pondered on why the teen got so riled up, so... unhinged when they hadn't even covered the topics that could be potential triggers... unless of course, he had a new one. A thought came to him, "Why don't we discuss the type of relationship you have with your stepmother and stepsiblings, starting with Tasha."

"She's great, amazing actually. She's everything I expected out of a mother and more. Of course, when she's disciplines me she's not my favorite person. But I know, deep down, that she does it because she loves and cares about me. If she didn't, she wouldn't care how I turned out and would let me get away with everything because she doesn't give a crap, but she does and I love her for that, for not giving up on us, on me, even if we give her every reason under the sun to, she doesn't."

"She's the mother I've longed for since I was a kid. And I know. It sounds a bit nugatory, but I remember as a child I would get so jealous when I'd see other kids with their mothers, so angry and bitter. I didn't mean to, really. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Davenport was a great parent, a great father. He did the best he could do with him being sort of a single father raising three kids, but I guess I always wanted more from him, something, as a father he could never fulfill, but only a mother would have the ability to do."

Dr. Kasparian nods, "So, essentially, what you're saying is that Tasha fills that void, that sense of loneliness and incompleteness you've always felt as a child. She was that missing puzzle piece in your life."

"Exactly," Chase avers, "I don't remember much about my biological mother, but Tasha... she's the only mother I've ever known and I love her as if she was my own mother. Of course Mr. Davenport's had a few girlfriends in the past but," Chase shook his head, scoffing. "They never really cared about us. Only about what they could get out the relationship. We were just considered extra work in their little bargain. But Tasha wasn't like that at all. It was a little rocky at first, for the both of us in the beginning, but it only got better as time went on."

After a pause of Dr. Kasparian scribbling down again at his pad, he looks up at Chase, then asks, "Do you call her mom?"

Chase hesitates, "No. I—... I guess I don't want to make her uncomfortable. I mean, Adam and Bree do, I'm the only one who refers to her as Tasha. She's never mentioned anything to me about it, but I do sometimes get the sense that she wouldn't mind me calling her mom."

"She most likely doesn't want to pressure you or make you feel obligated to do so. She only cares about what's best for you and if you feel more comfortable calling her Tasha than she's happy either way as long as you're okay with it."

Chase mulls over this, but says nothing so Dr. Kasparian decides to proceed forward.

"Now, tell me Chase, what is your relationship like with your stepbrother, Leo?"

"He's my little brother. I love and care about him a lot, even if I sometimes neglect to show it, I do. I really do." He assures, then says, "He's always there when I need him, and he's always game for heart to heart's whenever I need them, too. He doesn't tease me like Adam and Bree and I know that, if anything ever goes down, he'll always have my back. He's also extremely loyal, too, and resilient and confident, very sure of himself." He chuckles a little, "I swear, the sky could be blue and he'd somehow be able to convince me otherwise, have me believing the sky's purple or yellow. That Leo, he's got the gift of gab I tell you."

"But he's my little brother and I love him, admire him, and want to protect him. He's a risk taker for sure and I guess that's why I worry about him a lot. I worry that someday that carefree behavior's gonna get him into an impenetrable amount of trouble that he might not be able to talk himself out of. Though, I don't like to think about that very possibility, the thought does cross my mind more often than I'd like."

Dr. Kasparian nods with a smile, adjusting the frames situated at the brim of his nose. "And Lyric? How is your relationship like with her?"

Dr. Kasaparian observes the slight change in the teen's demeanor, not necessarily abysmal or extremely distinct, but it was enough for the elder psychologist to take notice of almost immediately.

Chase chuckles before answering, "You know, it's funny. In the beginning, when we first met, we couldn't stand each other. We argued all the time. I admit though, when I first met her, she wasn't like most girls, or like Bree; the way I expected her to be. And that's why I pushed her away, I think, because she was far from the norm I had grown accustomed to. She was intelligent, confident, spunky, quick-witted—"

"You were intimidated by her."

"Yeah," Chase gives a snort. "I guess I was. Like I said, she wasn't like many girls. And I guess I didn't know how to handle that." He shrugs, "Things were pretty tense between us for a while until I um... Until I blacked out."

Dr. Kasparian's eyebrows knit together. "Blacked out? Do you mean—"

"Yeah," Chase finishes with a sigh. "Spike had shown up for the first time in months."

"Oh? Do you remember what could have possibly triggered Spike to take over?"

Chase shook his head. "No I—... I honestly don't remember much about what happened that night. One moment I was coming down the stairs for a study break and the next I had Lyric pinned against the refrigerator. It was odd, the expression on her face. I expected her to be terrified but instead she looked more concerned about me than scared out of her wits like she should've been considering the current predicament I had her in."

"I asked her what happened and she wouldn't tell me much, only that she had been talking on the phone and that I had came down the stairs, but paused on the last step and just stood there for the longest time. She said she had asked if I was okay but I didn't respond, only stared and didn't move. She said that she got up to leave to her room but I had blocked her path and snatched the phone away from her and went off on a tirade. She said that I would get angrier every time she called me Chase and I kept yelling at the top of my lungs that I wasn't Chase, but Spike. She wouldn't tell me how we ended up in the kitchen with me restraining her, but she did say that she was glad that I was okay and that even though we may argue sometimes, she still cared about me and that I was her brother now and the last thing she wanted was for something bad to happen to me."

"I was shocked, happy and relieved. I told her that I had felt the same, which I truly did. I apologized and pleaded with her to tell me everything that had happened, but she said it wasn't a big deal and that she just wanted to forget about it. Of course I wasn't okay with that but really, what choice did I have?" The teen exhales a breath and bits his lip. "We ended up watching a movie together and I guess we fell asleep since we were unceremoniously awakened by Adam, Bree and Leo. They were teasing us. I could tell Lyric was irritated, but more so because she was awakened from her comfortable slumber as was I." He chuckles. "The rest is pretty much history. We had gradually, albeit unexpectedly, gotten much closer since then. That was three years ago..." Chase sighs, "She's much more than just my sister, Dr. Kasparian. She's my best friend. She's the only one who truly understands me, or at least tries to understand me (with the exception of Leo of course). I'm not much of an open book to anyone, but with her, I am. She can always tell when something is bothering me, when I need to talk, or when I simply need a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on." Chase pauses for a moment, almost thoughtfully, before he speaks again. "She doesn't judge me and I appreciate that."

Dr. Kasparian nods with a small smile. "That's good to hear, Chase. You seem to have a good relationship with your stepsiblings, a healthy sibling bond with the two of them. Many teenagers your age struggle with the adjustment of having a new stepparent and stepsiblings, but that doesn't seem to be the case here, which is good. It's very refreshing to see, if I were to be completely honest."

"Yeah," Chase agrees. "I couldn't imagine my life without them."

Nodding, Dr. Kasaparian scribbles down a couple notes, then looks up at the teen. "Now, going back to that episode you had three years ago. You say that Lyric wouldn't tell you exactly what happened?"

Chase shook his head, visibly dejected. "No, not even to this day," He sighs. "Eventually, I stopped asking. I guess a part of me stopped wanting to know what actually happened that night. I don't know if I could handle knowing that I could have actually hurt her."

"You know it wasn't your fault—"

"You know, no matter how many times you, Mr. Davenport, or anyone else says that, I'll never be able to believe it."

Dr. Kasaparian sighed, removing his frames. "Chase, you're dealing with a mental illness that you have no control over, only as much control as you allow it to have over your life, remember? No one blames you. You're family loves you and cares about you. They know that you're trying, each and every day, to fight this."

Dr. Kasparian watches the young teen slowly nod and turn his gaze elsewhere. The elder psychologist could only hope the young man took heed to his words because it was the truth. Continuing on, he places his frames back onto his face and clears his throat a little. "So, Chase. Has there been any recent episodes as of late?"

Chase pales slightly, which doesn't go by unnoticed. "Y-Yes."

"What happened?" The doctor asked gently.

"...I seen everything. Everything that I thought I had forgotten or tried to forget. I saw my old home, my biological mother... I saw Spike for first time in three years."

"You saw Spike?"

Chase slowly nods, inhaling and exhaling as he began fidgeting. "Yes. He... He looked just like me. He looked like my twin. Except, it wasn't me. I know it wasn't. He just looked like me but I know it wasn't me. It was Spike, I swear."

"I believe you, Chase." This seems to ease some of the tension off the teen, but not completely. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yes, he—" Chase closes his eyes for brief second and the doctor could tell he was struggling. "It's okay, Chase, just breathe. Everything's fine."

Chase inhales and exhales once again. Then, after a few passing seconds, he nods and continues. "He wants full control over me, Dr. Kasparian. He says he wants to destroy my life and everyone in it."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him it wasn't happening. He will never be able to control me the way he wants to. He'll never have my life, not if I can help it."

"He's trying to see how far he can push you, Chase, but you have to remain strong. It won't be easy, but I know you can overcome this, overcome _him_. Remember what I told you, he's only as real as you allow him to be."

Chase nods. "I know. It's just... sometimes it's hard to remember that. Sometimes his voice can be so much louder and demanding."

"I know Chase, I know. But... do you trust me?"

Chase looks up at him, stares for a couple seconds, then nods. "Yes."

"Then you have to believe me, trust me, and listen to what I tell you because I'm only here to help you. I want you to get better and I know you have the potential to. You just need a strong, healthy push to get you going and I, your family, and all the people who love and care about you are going to be just that."

"We're not giving up on you, Chase. And if we are not willing to, then you shouldn't be either."

There was a pregnant silence that followed Dr. Kasparian's words and honestly, the doctor didn't know what to make of it until –

"...You're right, Dr. Kasparian... you're right. I just... needed to hear that."

Dr. Kasparian nods. "Any time Chase, any time." The doctor smiled, then, "So, how much, _exactly_ , do you remember about your childhood?"

"I remember a few things. They come to me here and there, depending on a situation that may trigger a memory."

"Do you know what the triggers could be?"

"No," Chase sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "It could be anything, really."

"You said you were in your old home and you seen your biological mother?"

"Yeah... it was odd. I... I seen her and Bree, Adam, and me — as children. I even seen... _him_."

Dr. Kasparian frowns for a moment, confused, then it clicks. "Your biological father?"

"Yeah. I seen him in a picture with her, and three little children which I now realize was me, Bree and Adam as kids." He shakes his head. "I heard her voice and I knew it was her. I don't know how I just... I did. I followed the sound and there she was... in the flesh."

"Seeing her... how did that make you feel Chase?"

"Strange and yet... _familiar_. It's like she looked familiar, but... I felt... _nothing_." Chase looks up at elder man; a look of culpability in his eyes. "Am I wrong? For feeling nothing for her?"

Dr. Kasparian sighed, "You can't help how you feel, Chase. You were really young when she passed, possibly too young to have formed a motherly bond with her. What happened and how you feel isn't your fault."

Chase sighed. "I know, but... she's my mother. My _biological_ mother, my blood, she gave birth to me and... and yet I don't feel anything. I feel indifferent about her. I don't hate her, but I don't love her, either." He paused for a moment. "...I hate myself for feeling that way Dr. Kasparian, but I do."

"...Does Mr. Davenport ever talk about her?"

"Sometimes, but only if we asked about her, which we did a lot when we were younger, but as we got older the questions weren't as frequent as they once were. Bree asked about her the most, for, well, obvious reasons. But when Tasha, Lyric, and Leo came into our lives, the questions ended altogether, only popping up every now and then."

Dr. Kasparian seems to mull over this for quite some time before prompting his next question. "What triggered this recent episode?"

Chase hesitated for a moment before answering, "...I had another fight with Angela."

Dr. Kasparian's eyebrows rose he looked up from his legal notepad to the teen. "Angela... you're girlfriend, correct?"

Chase nods.

"What was the fight about?"

Chase didn't immediately answer and there was a brief silence between the two, and Dr. Kasparian is set to ask Chase what was wrong, when –

"I think she's cheating on me, Dr. Kasparian."

Dr. Kasparian frowns. "What would make you think that, Chase?"

Chase exhales. "Whenever we're together, she's always on her phone, texting and smiling. I ask her who it is and she just dismisses me completely, claiming that it's her sister checking up on her or one of her friends," He shakes his head, running a hand over his face. "I know she's lying, Dr. Kasparian, and honestly, I don't even know why I stay with her. I love her and she's my first _real_ girlfriend, but, my family doesn't like her at all."

"Bree couldn't stand her from the moment I brought Angela home for them to meet. She thinks Angela isn't good for me and is just using me," He continues. "Leo doesn't really like her either, though, he's not as a vocal about it as Bree. I'm not sure what Adam thinks about her since he pretty much steers clear of any of my relationships since that whole Danielle incident. Though, I'm pretty sure he feels the same way as Bree and Leo."

He then shrugs. "Lyric, on the other hand, has been the most supportive of our relationship. She even tried to get Bree to lighten up a little. But, if I were to be honest, I don't think Lyric is very fond of Angela, either. She's never told me that directly or did anything to Angela to make me believe so, it's just... There's a hesitance I pick up when it comes to Angie. She tries to hide it, but I can see it."

"Tasha is cordial to her, but I can tell she doesn't like her much, either. And Mr. Davenport, well, I honestly don't know where he stands on the matter."

Dr. Kasparian nods. "...Does that bother you at all?"

"What?"

"That your family dislikes Angela?"

Chase nods, "Yeah, it does. But I know they're just trying to look out for me and only want what's best for me, whether they choose to admit or not." He shrugs again. "What really baffles me is that Angela, out of all my siblings, dislikes Lyric the most. Even more so than Bree, who openly displays her strong dislike for her and our relationship."

Dr. Kasaparian nods, jotting down a few more notes before glancing down at his watch, emitting a sigh.

"Alright-y, Chase. That is all the time we have for today," he sets his notes aside, removing his frames. "You seem to be doing much better. I'm proud of you, but I still want you to continue taking your medication. You have to trust in me when I say they're good for you and will help aid you through the anxiety and depression, okay? I know it's hard, but you have try. For you and for your family."

Chase sighs, stands, then nods.

"Okay doc, I will try."

Dr. Kasparian smiles and stands as well, his arm outstretched towards the teen who smiles halfheartedly, and shakes his hand.

"I know you can do this, Chase. Don't give up."

Chase purses his lips and nods. "I won't."

"I'll see you next week, Chase."

Chase nods and reaches for his coat and keys, giving a brief wave before leaving the elder man's office. Dr. Kasparian sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he leans against the wooden desk he had just occupied for the past hour. He was exhausted and was beyond grateful that Chase had been his last patient for the day. The teen truly was doing much better, that is, compared to how he was a couple years ago. It seemed Donald Davenport finally tying the knot, in truth, had had a positive impact on the boy's life than Dr. Kasparian initially expected. The elder man had actually been worried and had his reservations about the sudden change in environment for Chase with everything that he already had going on. He was afraid it would be a crucial setback in all of the progress Chase had made, but, if truth be told, it did the complete opposite and Dr. Kasparian couldn't have been more delighted at the fact that he had been wrong.

Chase had seemed much more open in this past years' sessions and not to mention, much happier.

Dr. Kasparian grinned. Chase deserved to be happy, what with everything he's been through, he was glad to see that things were finally looking up for the young man.

Of course, there was still much more progress to be made, but for now, Chase seemed to be content with how things were and Dr. Kasparian could only hope things would stay this way for a long while.

The psychologist leans over the wooden desk, presses a button on the machine, and says, "Deloris, please have valet to pull my car out to the front, I'll be down there in the next ten minutes. I just have a few more things to go over before I leave for the day. It won't take long, though."

"Yes sir. I will inform one now." A female voice said through the speakers of the intercom, "Would you like me to send word to your wife of your impending arrival?"

"No, that's okay Deloris. I want to surprise her. She's been wanting to spend some quality time with me these past few months and now I finally have the extra time." The psychologist sniggered as he already began sifting through various loads of paperwork. "I can't wait to see the look on her face."

"Very well, sir."

"Thanks, Deloris."

"Your welcome, sir."

He continued to sift through some more paperwork that had accumulated from the day's activities. He put each written document containing each of his patient's information into a separate folder and into a file cabinet. It took him about ten minutes to get through everyone's.

He paused when he finally got to Chase's. His eyes skimmed the document for a moment.

**Name:** _Chase Alexandar Davenport_

**Description of Patient:** _Diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder, or DID at the age of 8. Former Doctor believes it to be caused by traumatic events witnessed as a child._

**Date of Birth:** _August 5th, 1999_

**Age:** _16_

**Grade:** _12 (Advanced Placement)_

**Height:** _5'4_

**Weight:** _115lbs x 52.1631_

**Biological Parents:** _Douglas Davenport, Aira Dawson Davenport (deceased)_

**Legal Guardians:** _Donald Davenport (Uncle), Tasha Dooley Davenport (Stepmother)_

**Siblings:** _Adam Charles Davenport (Brother), Sabrena Aira Davenport (Sister), Lyonella Rosalina Dooley (Stepsister), Leonidas Francis Dooley (Stepbrother)_

**Medication Prescribed:** _Multiple antidepressants including; Clozapine, Geodon, Seroquel and Risperdal._

Dr. Kasparian sighs, staring at the sheet of paper for a moment before slipping it into the folder labeled: " _Chase Alexandar Davenport_ " and into the file cabinet. He genuinely wanted to see Chase do better.

Of course, though, he wanted to see all his patients do better, but Chase especially. Dr. Kasparian, against all his teachings, had formed a personal bond with the teen. He wasn't sure if it was because Chase had been his patient for over three years now, or if it was because he had a son of his own that was the exact same age as Chase and every time he would see the teen, it would remind him of his own son, and how it could have easily been his son sitting before him instead.

It was probably both.

Chase was so young and had such potential to be so much more than his illness and Dr. Kasparian could only hope he was able to convince the boy of his full potential whenever he seen him. He had the rest of his life ahead of him and if he decided to give up now, there was no telling where he would end up by the age of twenty-five or thirty-five.

Dr. Kasparian shook his head as he locked the file cabinet, slipping the key into drawer of his wooden desk. He crossed the room and slipped on his coat.

He would do all he could to make sure Chase ended up living up to his full potential. Though, deep down, he knew that choice would ultimately have to be made by Chase himself.

Cutting off all the lights in the room and locking the door to his office, he sighs. He would make it a personal goal to make sure Chase Davenport succeeded or at least wouldn't turn out the way many other patients that had the same mental illness as he did had.

"Goodnight, Dr. Kasparian!" He could hear Deloris call.

"Goodnight, Deloris. Don't stay here too long, it's getting pretty late."

"I know," Deloris smiles, "I'll be fine, though. Nothing a couple cups of coffee won't be able to fix."

Dr. Kasparian laughed at this. "Right. Well, have a good weekend Deloris."

"You as well, sir."


End file.
